Jurgen Klopp can't mask the truth despite Liverpool's stance on Saudi and Salah
Liverpool are under no illusions over the prospect of another massive offer for Mo Salah…despite rejecting a £150m bid and insisting the “matter is closed” as the Premier League transfer window closed.
The football world was shaken with the news on Friday that the Reds had rejected an offer from Al-Ittihad to make Salah the face of the Saudi Pro League, which could have risen to an astonishing £150m for a 31 year old.
The Saudi club are also understood to have offered to make the player the highest paid in the world with a staggering £1.5m a week…more than Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar receive after switching to the Pro League.
Yet Liverpool's response was swift and firm: they stated bluntly that Salah is not for sale, the matter is closed, and they will absolutely not encourage any further offers.
In reality though, boss Jurgen Klopp and his American owners know that Al Ittihad - backed by the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF - have the finances to blow even that offer out of the water.
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And with the Pro League transfer window not due to close until next Thursday, September 7, the Reds are bracing themselves for a turbulent week with even more speculation and hysteria surrounding their star player.
Yet Klopp remained adamant that the club position will remain unchanged, even if further offers come in.
He has seen Salah at close quarters this week, after making him part of the Liverpool team’s leadership group, and he explained on Friday that the superstar remains “totally” committed to the club.
In fact, the manager confirmed that he has NO reason to even speak to Salah over the interest suggesting: “Mo is super committed, really in training fully there, in the leadership meetings this week, he is fully in.
Mo Salah is being targeted for a move for Saudi Arabia (Getty Images)“So why should I open something (with him) where there’s nothing? That’s your job (journalists). You can write and do what you want. I have to deal with facts, and my fact is ‘all good, we are here and everything is fine’. So from my point of view I see absolutely nothing to worry about.”
Klopp looked drawn as he faced the media after a busy week of transfer dealings, but he was surprisingly relaxed over the future of Salah.
He offered a light-hearted take on the Saudi approach for his players, including the signings of Roberto Firmino, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, along with approaches for Alisson and Joe Gomez amongst others, saying: “I am not 100% sure if we know all of them who got approached because they (the Saudi Pro League) thought about pretty much everything. That’s how it is!”
And he avoided too much controversy over the money being thrown around by the Saudi clubs, saying only: “I have not a lot to say about it. We just sit here and do our thing and nothing has changed. We tried that.
“We obviously felt the differences in prices but that’s not a Saudi thing, there are other clubs who pay a lot of money. Then all of a sudden it’s ‘wow, that’s the new price tag, that’s interesting’. That’s normal.”
But Klopp is a realist. He knows that Salah is the highest profile Arab footballer in the world, and a high profile, massively regarded Muslim who is admired the world over, which would be a massive coup for the Pro League.
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Liverpool though, will remain steadfast and maintained on Friday as the domestic window closed, that no offer could persuade them to change their mind.
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