Transfer: Liverpool and Manchester City could reportedly be at risk of losing their star players at the end of this season
Liverpool and Manchester City could reportedly be at risk of losing their star players as San Diego FC are said to be eyeing up Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne in an ambitious double transfer.
Both Salah and De Bruyne are facing uncertain futures at the moment, and it seems there could be a big effort to lure them to the MLS for 2025, according to Fichajes.
Salah will be a free agent next summer if he doesn’t end up signing a new Liverpool contract, as his current Reds deal is close to expiry, while it’s a similar situation for De Bruyne at the Etihad Stadium.
Although it has mostly been a good start to life at Liverpool for new manager Arne Slot, it’s a huge concern for everyone at the club that Salah’s future remains unresolved.
Karim Adeyemi has been linked with LFC as a potential Salah replacement, but the truth is that it could be hugely challenging to ever find anyone who can contribute as much as the Egypt international has in a remarkable career at Anfield.
Where next for Mohamed Salah and Kevin De Bruyne?
Still, one imagines both Salah and De Bruyne might feel they’re coming towards the ends of their careers at the very top level, and it will surely be tempting to accept lucrative offers such as one from the MLS, while there are also bound to be continued rumours about similar opportunities in places like Saudi Arabia.
Liverpool fans will no doubt hope Salah can stay a bit longer as he’s not showing any sign of slowing down, with the 32-year-old still a hugely important player for Slot’s side.
When you look at players like Robert Lewandowski still going strong for Barcelona at the age of 36, while Cristiano Ronaldo was also at Manchester United at the same age, it’s clearly possible that Salah could carry on for a few more years at Liverpool before finishing his career at a lower level.
It will be interesting to see how this story develops in the months ahead, but these signings would be a major statement by San Diego, rivalling Inter Miami’s high-profile deal for Lionel Messi.
Messi made the comments back in 2016.
Lionel Messi settled the Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and Frank Lampard debate with ‘greatest ever’ comment
Lionel Messi settled the Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes debate after revealing who he thinks is ‘the greatest ever’ English player.
Messi is the man many fans consider to be the ‘GOAT’ (greatest of all time) in football. Supporters regularly debate whether the Argentine his rival Cristiano Ronaldo come out on top in the debate but, on this occasion, it was the Argentine’s turn to have his say on one of the Premier League’s great debates through his comments on how he deems to be the best English player in history.
In their prime, Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes would have walked into most midfields in Europe and it is a debate that has prompted almost as much discussion as that between Messi and Ronaldo.
And Messi indirectly gave his thoughts on who was the best back in 2016.
“Personally, I think [Steven] Gerrard is England’s greatest-ever player. I wish him a happy retirement,” said Messi following Gerrard’s decision to hang up his boots eight years ago.
Gerrard left Liverpool in 2015 and then finished his career with a season-long spell at MLS side LA Galaxy.
Like Messi, the former Reds captain was regularly voted into the World Team of the Year and there is a clear mutual respect between the two.
Lampard also had a brief stint in the US between 2015 and 2016 following a season at Manchester City. The Chelsea legend left the Blues in 2014 after a trophy-laden career at Stamford Bridge.
Messi is not the first person to address the debate and certainly won’t be the last.
The Argentine’s former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola gave his take when speaking to Rio Ferdinand on his podcast.
“All respect to Frank [Lampard], to Steven [Gerrard] but Paul Scholes is my favourite one,” Guardiola said in 2023.
“I love it. I think he had everything but the other two, come on, Frank and Steven Gerrard changed this… Paul Scholes is my favourite.”
Lionel Messi in enjoying life at Inter Miami (Credit:Getty)
Lionel Messi in enjoying life at Inter Miami (Credit:Getty)
The Argentine has also achieved a feat that both Lampard and Gerrard never did through his collective achievements since moving to the US. Last Sunday, he scored twice in Miami’s victory over Columbus Crew to help clinch the Supporters’ Shield, adding to the Leagues Cup success he helped deliver in August last year.
His 17 goals and 10 assists in 18 MLS games have helped his side shoot up the division following his arrival in July 2023. Messi has already set his sights on the MLS Cup in December as his next piece of silverware, saying: “The first objective has been achieved, and now we have to think about what’s next.”
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