Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah is set to fly out to the Middle East to complete Al-Ittihad switch.
According to Okaz on their official X account via Gulf News, Egyptian and Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah has been touted to travel to Jeddah later today to complete his switch to Al-Ittihad in the ongoing summer transfer window.
The 31-year-old is one of the finest players in world football and the Muslim world’s best footballer today. Landing him would be nothing short of a coup for the Saudi Pro League, adding more impetus to their rising influence in the sport.
Al-Ittihad have already landed several superstars such as Fabinho, N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema. Salah is still in the prime of his career and will not come cheap. Al-Ittihad are not shy of splashing the cash and are ready to fork out £150 million to secure the Egyptian’s services.
He is expected to fly in to Jeddah later this evening to finalise the transfer. The claim seems rather counter intuitive given that Salah was pictured in Liverpool training on Thursday. Surely, he would not be preparing for this weekend’s fixture had his move to Al-Ittihad been close.
Salah is arguably Liverpool’s best player and can be considered difficult to replace should he be moved on this summer. With just hours to go before the window slams shut in England, Liverpool will be hard pressed to secure a replacement should the veteran attacker depart.
While the English window will shut tonight at 11PM BST, the Saudi Arabian transfer window will continue into the middle of September. Whether Liverpool will successfully hold off repeated overtures to retain their star man for another campaign remains to be seen.
As things stand, claims that Salah is set to land in Jeddah appears fanciful at best. As such, this report can be taken with a pinch of salt despite Al-Ittihad’s undeniable interest in Salah, unless something far more concrete turns up.
It makes sense for the Reds to hold onto Salah for another season. The Egyptian is unlikely to cost any lesser in a year’s time and will also give Liverpool enough time to bring in a replacement. Crazy money for a player whose powers are on the wane should find more takers in an year’s time.
