It’s fair to say that Mohamed Salah and Liverpool did not anticipate his name to be in the news ahead of the holiday weekend, given his impressive Premier League comeback in the month of August.
The 31-year-old Egyptian has recently been enticed with the riches of the Saudi Pro League, and Al-Ittihad, which is funded by the Public Investment Fund, is apparently aiming to make a spectacular move for the forward before next week’s transfer deadline.
On Thursday afternoon, information on the Saudi champions’ growing interest in Salah increased. The ECHO knows that Liverpool, who has a two-year extension on their deal with the talismanic Egyptian, is not in the mood to consider the possibility of his departure.
Salah still has a lot to give Liverpool at the age of 31. He did, of course, surpass Reds great Steven Gerrard in the all-time scoring lists with his 187th goal for the team on Saturday during the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth.
Salah, it would seem, still has more chapters of his Liverpool story to write before he possibly follows in the footsteps of fellow Anfield royalty, whereas Gerrard may have controversially traded the beaches of Formby for the sand dunes of Dammam earlier this summer as he cashed in on an eye-watering offer from Al Ettifaq.
The Egyptian expressed her devastation by saying, “I’m totally devastated,” in May, just after Liverpool’s Premier League result in fifth place was determined. There is no justification for this at all. We had everything we had to qualify for the Champions League the next year, but we fell short.
“We are Liverpool, and entering the competition is the very least we can do. Sorry, but it’s too soon for a motivational or upbeat post. We failed both you and ourselves.
Such a belligerent attitude doesn’t seem like someone who is prepared to leave the structure of the second, greatest Liverpool team under Jurgen Klopp for the Saudi Pro League’s surroundings.
From Liverpool’s perspective, however, as it was with the sales of both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, it would have been foolish to forgo obtaining a valuation for a player who currently earns around £350,000 per week, will turn 32 next summer, and is almost halfway through what may be his final Anfield contract.
But when the Reds’ quest for a holding midfielder took a significant left-field turn, the exits of both of the aforementioned midfielders demonstrated that the grass isn’t always greener. Even with the possibility of an increased transfer fund, there are instances when sticking is preferable to twisting.
That was proven earlier this month when Liverpool made a British record bid of over £110 million for Moises Caicedo of Brighton & Hove Albion. Caicedo later decided against moving to Anfield in favor of joining Chelsea. Officials at Anfield were not surprised by this choice because they had first put off signing the Ecuadorian because of his desire to transfer to King’s Road.
However, the days that followed showed how difficult it can be to replace a gap the size of Saudi Arabia in a team, as Liverpool’s last-ditch hunt for a holding midfielder led them to abandon their buy-to-grow policy and settle on a deal for VfB Stuttgart captain Wataru Endo.
The fact that Endo has no European experience at the age of 30 suggests that he is used to performing at a significantly lower level than Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League-winning Fabinho, who enjoyed a three-year stint as the best in class throughout Europe, even though the Liverpool manager had been thrilled with his capture of the midfielder and revealed he was quickly inundated with celebratory messages from his homeland.
And with the benefit of hindsight, it becomes reasonable to conclude that Liverpool has deteriorated this summer in that area.
It would be irresponsible of Liverpool to think they could find someone of Salah’s caliber with fewer than seven days of the transfer window remaining after being compromised by last month’s Saudi riches.
Not to mention the unsettling prospect of finding a long-term successor for the Egyptian at a time when the club’s owners Fenway Sports Group are still searching for a successor to Michael Edwards, the sporting director whose outstanding work during his six-year tenure made Anfield the envy of Europe. It’s clear that now is not the time for Liverpool to make significant changes.
Salah’s goals have been the only constant at Anfield in recent years despite all of the changes. This summer, Liverpool cannot afford for that to change.
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