News that Saudi Arabian giants, Al-Ittihad, could be about to drop a £200m offer on Liverpool for their talisman, Mo Salah, has seen one of the co-creators of the Premier League suggest that the Egyptian King will leave the Anfield outfit – in this window.
Salah is already 31 years of age and, whilst not close to retiring from the game, is probably going to be considered as past his ‘peak’ years as a player.
To that end, whatever Liverpool may say in public, if a near world-record offer arrives, they can’t afford to just dismiss it out of hand.
The will of the player will clearly go some way to determining the stance that Liverpool take during the course of this week, but one has to bear in mind that surely the Saudi delegation that has apparently arrived in London (Daily Mail) wouldn’t have done so without encouragement from the player or his representatives.
‘I think Salah will go which is very disturbing for Liverpool. At his age, money has to be the the deciding factor I’m guessing, and it’s a pretty educated guess though I might be wrong. My guess is that he will go because Saudi could write a check for £200m easily,’ former super agent, Jon Smith, wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
‘Where else are Liverpool going to get that sort of money and where else is Salah, heading towards the end of his career, going to earn, potentially, £95m a year?’
Whilst life beyond Salah isn’t a thought that most Liverpool supporters could contemplate, the same could probably be said with Tottenham fans and Harry Kane.
Spurs have spent wisely with the money received from their striker, and although Liverpool would have to wait until January to do the same, £200m gives them huge scope to improve.