Former Sky Sports pundit Richard Keys has claimed that Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will leave for the Saudi Pro League this summer.
The Reds manager Jurgen Klopp said that the club have no plans to sell the Egypt international after Al-Ittihad reignited their interest in the 31-year-old last week.
However, Keys reckons Salah could be tempted to move to Saudi and has urged Liverpool to cash in on him.
“Now. Mo Salah. He’s definitely leaving Liverpool,” he wrote on his blog.
“I think we all agree on that. What we don’t know is when, but don’t be surprised if it’s this week. Or – perhaps everybody waits until the international break, but right now the deal to take him to the Saudi league is very much on.
“You’ve got to understand that what we hear in our part of the world is very different to what’s being said in the U.K. We’re a whole lot closer to the source.
“We were discussing what’s happening on beINSPORTS Sunday when phones started going off. Messages were being received from people bang in the middle of the deal telling us that they’d got so far as arranging a medical this week.
“If I’m Liverpool I’m selling. Who’d have thought it would be possible to get £80/£100m back on a 31-year-old who has been a wonderful servant – who’s now earning £350,000 a week, with his best days behind him. It’s madness. Take it.
“Please don’t run away with the idea that I’m saying the deal is done. It isn’t. There are so many moving parts when a club is trying to get a ‘normal’ deal over the line – let alone one of this size. What we are being told may come to nothing in the short term – but if it’s not now it will eventually get done.
“It’ll depend on how much Salah wants the move. Remember – he’s coming home. And what has he got to prove at Anfield? Liverpool are not even playing CL football this season, which I know is something that’s p*ssed him off.”
According to CBS Sports, Al-Ittihad are willing to offer Liverpool €150 million for Salah, which could be very tempting to turn down, and the player could be keen on leaving Anfield before the transfer window shuts.
The Merseyside club are unlikely to sanction the deal as losing their most influential player could derail their campaign, and finding a replacement capable of hitting the ground running could be a very difficult task right now with just a few days left in the summer market.
Salah has two more years left on his deal and has not shown signs of declining, with two assists and a goal to his name in three Premier League games so far this term, and Liverpool will do all they can to hold on to him beyond this summer.
