Had Al Ittihad made their approach to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool earlier in the summer, it’s hard to imagine their record bid being turned down. But now the cat’s out the bag, Saudi Arabia are unlikely to rest until they get their man and now’s the time for Liverpool to begin planning for life after Salah.
The Egypt international has established himself as an icon on Merseyside, winning every major trophy there is to win at Liverpool. Despite being 31 years of age, Salah is arguably the fittest of all Liverpool players and his fitness record speaks for itself.
But it’s his goalscoring prowess and influence on Liverpool’s attacking unit that made him irreplaceable this summer. Salah was the club’s top scorer for the sixth straight season last year with only Roger Hunt (eight) and Michael Owen (seven) bettering that record.
His legendary status at Anfield is already secured, but Jurgen Klopp was clearly not ready to let his superstar attacker fly off into the sunset this summer. Liverpool have already undergone a bigger upheaval in midfield than was originally planned this summer and losing Salah would have set them back even further.
With Salah in the side, Liverpool can still consider themselves favourites to win at least one trophy this season. Liverpool are more primed for the future than ever with Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota all 26 years of age or under.
They’ve already seen Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino depart in the last 12 months as Klopp’s side transitions to the next generation. But preparing for Salah’s departure will take time and letting him leave with no replacement signed would spell disaster for the club.
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FSG would have had to turn down the record bid from Saudi Arabia through gritted teeth as that kind of money can’t be ignored. But the Liverpool owners kept to their guns in not making a rash decision that would have angered both Klopp and the supporters.
What the rejection does do though is make it abundantly clear that a contingency plan now needs to be put in place for Salah’s inevitable move to Saudi Arabia. Salah is deserving of a final send-off at Anfield – much like what Firmino got at the end of last season.
Liverpool have now given themselves time to plan for a future without Salah. How that looks remains to be seen, but Liverpool know they’ll be richly rewarded as Saudi Arabia’s interest won’t subside.
And FSG will be fully expected to pump those funds back into finding an adequate replacement for Salah.
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