Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel has cautioned that Mohamed Salah might not find the same love from the fans if he seals a transfer to Saudi Arabia next summer.
The Egypt international is a Liverpool legend after a great career at Anfield, but there seem to be some lingering doubts about whether or not he’ll still be at the club next season.
Salah has a stunning record of 199 goals in 324 games for the Merseyside giants since he joined from Roma back in 2017, but he’s not getting any younger and Babbel admits he could see the club being tempted to accept a huge offer for him at the end of this season.
Still, the former Reds man, who played for the club between 2000 and 2004, also seems to hope that Salah will consider the love of the Anfield crowd when it comes to making a decision, as he’s unlikely to be able to replicate that feeling anywhere else.
“I really hope he stays. Every supporter loves him, the city love him, the club love him. I don’t know if he would get the same love in Saudi Arabia,” Babbel exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone.
“Listen you can’t be 100% sure that he stays with so much money on the market coming from Saudi Arabia. If an offer 150/200 million came to the table, you would say as a club, we have to do it. At the end of the day, it depends what Salah himself wants too. He is on a top contract now, but I understand if he takes a huge offer from Saudi Arabia.”
We saw some ambitious signings made by Saudi clubs a few months ago when the likes of Ruben Neves, Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and numerous others made the move there, while Cristiano Ronaldo set that trend going when he joined Al Nassr almost a year ago.
Salah certainly makes sense as another kind of superstar they could target, but Liverpool fans will surely hope he stays with them for as long as possible.