Staggering Saudi offer for Salah revealed

Liverpool will be hoping to record a second consecutive win when they travel to face Newcastle United on Sunday. 

The Reds were held to a 1-1 draw by Chelsea on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, before cruising to a 3-1 win over Bournemouth last weekend.

It hasn’t all been good news this week, though, as it emerged on Thursday that talisman Mohamed Salah had become the latest player to be targeted by the free-spending Saudi Arabian Pro League.

The Egyptian’s agent has recently dismissed rumours linking the player with a move to the Middle East, but reports on Thursday claim that he has now been offered a lucrative deal by Al-Ittihad.

Now, the staggering sums involved in the proposed deal have been revealed.

As reported by Football Insider, Liverpool are braced for an offer for the player in the coming days but remain adamant that he will not leave the club.

The report claims that the Pro League outfit would have to pay more than £600 million to lure Salah away from Anfield, making him the world’s highest paid player in doing so.

Salah scored during Liverpool’s win over Bournemouth on Saturday

At present that accolade is held by former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed a £175 million-per-year deal when joining fellow Saudi side Al-Nassr earlier this year.

With that in mind, and considering that Salah would command a fee in excess of £70 million, the entire package would cost Al-Ittihad more than £600 million.

Last summer, the former Chelsea man signed a three-year contract extension that earns him a reported £350,000-per-week.

Salah, 31, joined the Reds from Italian side Roma back in 2017 and has since been one of Europe’s most prolific goal scorers.

The Egypt international has made 307 appearances for the Merseyside outfit across all competitions, scoring 187 goals and providing 80 assists.

During his time at Anfield, the forward has won seven trophies including the Champions League and Premier League.

Despite the interest and financial might of Al-Ittihad, it appears extremely unlikely that Liverpool would allow Salah to depart the club with less than a week remaining of the transfer window.