Saudi Royal Family want ‘privilege’ of signing Mo Salah
The Saudi Royal Family have begun a public PR campaign to sign Mohamed Salah.
Salah has just five months remaining on his contract with Liverpool, and while talks over a new deal don’t appear to be moving, the Saudi Pro League is.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal was recenly interviewed by Piers Morgan and in that interview he said: “It’d be a privilege to see Mo Salah here. He’s the most high profile Muslim player in the world.”
The Prince then added: “He’s one of the best 2/3 players in the world. He hasn’t signed a new contract yet. Up to the clubs now.”
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It’s not clear if the Prince was speaking about signing Salah on a free transfer in the summer or making a shock move for the Egyptian international in January.
Either way, his comment is a huge statement of intent from the Saudi Pro League, where four of the clubs are directly owned by the state’s public investment fund (PIF).
Al-Hilal are the club most clearly linked with Salah, largely because they just released Neymar from his mammoth contract and so have a lot of free cash to play with, as well as a vacant no. 10 shirt.
Al-Hilal: the club Liverpool should fear
Al-Hilal are the most decorated side in Saudi Arabia (and, indeed, all of Asia) and they have dominated the last decade in their homeland, winning 6 of the last 8 titles.
They currently top the Saudi Pro League halfway through the 2024/25 season, but only on goal difference. The Karim Benzema-led Al-Ittihad are level with them and are looking to reclaim the title last won in 2023 (Al-Ittihad were also the side that tried to sign Salah back in 2023 only for the Egyptian to stay on Merseyside).
The arrival of Mohamed Salah in the summer would give Al-Hilal a player who is still, as the Prince says, one of the three best players in the world. It would be a tremendous boost for the club and surely give them a huge advantage to win the next few titles.
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Or could Salah be signed now in January? Liverpool are chasing a Quadruple so this is unlikely, but the Reds are owned by Fenway Sports Group who don’t like to lose money and the prospect of Salah walking away from free in the summer must grate on them.
A January sale to recoup a huge amount of profit (Salah’s initial €50 million fee will have long since been amortised) and “cap space” with PSR and FFP rules could be very attractive for the Liverpool owners, as well as giving them the margin to pay Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold whatever they want for their new contracts.
