Liverpool hold firm over Mohamed Salah as Saudi transfer window closes

Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) maintained the club's stance of not wanting to sell Mohamed Salah this summer as the Saudi Pro League transfer window closed on Thursday.

Al Ittihad had a verbal offer of around £150m rejected late in August and Liverpool insisted all along that they did not want to lose Salah.

90min understands that Salah was keen on making the move to the Pro League - who see the Egyptian and Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba as their top two targets moving forward - but a deal could not be agreed.

Al Ittihad and the Pro League continued talks through the start of September and they maintained some hope that a deal could be struck, making it clear they would happily break the global transfer record - Neymar's £200m move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 - if Liverpool decided to listen to offers.

90min has been told by sources within Anfield that some of the club's hierarchy were willing to entertain such a huge bid and felt that £200m for 31-year-old Salah was a good deal, but head coach Jurgen Klopp was not one of those voices as he insisted the Egyptian was going to stay throughout the process.

"I've never had, and I don't have now, doubts about his future, his commitment to this club," Klopp said earlier this month.

"Believe me, you can't imagine how much fuss the whole world makes and how calm we are with it. He's our player, he wants to play here and that's it."

LISTEN NOW TO 90MIN'S TALKING TRANSFERS PODCAST

On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Graeme Bailey to discuss Al Ittihad's attempts to sign Mohamed Salah, Jadon Sancho's Man Utd future, the players that could still leave the Premier League and more!

If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!