Jurgen Klopp sends definitive Mohamed Salah message to Saudi Arabia
- Al Ittihad remain interested in signing Salah and want to make him highest-paid player in the world
- Klopp has publicly insisted Liverpool will reject any bid for the forward
- Reports in Saudi Arabia claimed Salah had flown to the Middle East on Friday
By Tom Gott
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has stressed that the Reds have no interest in humouring interest in forward Mohamed Salah on Europe's transfer deadline day.
Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ittihad are looking to lure Salah to the Middle East before their transfer window closes later this month and it is understood an offer of over £120m could be submitted to try and get a deal done.
Sources have confirmed to 90min that Salah is interested in moving to Saudi Arabia but Liverpool, both publicly and privately, have rejected the idea of parting ways with the 31-year-old.
Reports on Friday from Saudi Arabia first claimed that Salah had already landed in the Middle East to negotiate a move, while others put a £150m price tag on the Egyptian's head, but Klopp laughed off all the speculation and stressed there is nothing going on.
"The position remains the same, absolutely," Klopp told a press conference when asked if Liverpool would listen to offers for Salah. "No doubt about that. That's how it is. Nothing else to say."
Asked if a bid had arrived, Klopp added: "Not as far as I know, but that doesn't mean a lot to be honest."
Klopp has voiced his frustrations towards the fact that Saudi Arabia's transfer window will remain open even beyond Friday's European deadline.
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FIFA's calendar has the Saudi deadline at 20 September, while the Saudi league has named 7 September as their final day for transfers. Regardless of when the window closes, Klopp reiterated his desire to see the Saudi deadline day brought forward.
"I don't know how sustainable it is, how long it will stay like this, but I think the next two weeks will show how much of a challenge it is [to deal with the threat of Saudi transfers] because nobody can react anymore [if they lose players," he added. "That's something I think UEFA or whoever should have an eye on, to sort that. We all have to protect the game we want.
"I love all my players who play now in Saudi Arabia. Usually I would watch them but I didn't see anything yet, I don't know exactly where, but it's not like it distracts me from my watching habits.
"We have to make sure these European leagues stay as strong as they are, and for that we can always help, like changing rules slightly, adapting rules, making laws. We're all surprised by the activity from Saudi Arabia but it happened a lot and a lot of players went there and it improves the league, definitely.
"I don't know where it will lead to, but it feels more like a threat or a concern than not, because I can't see how we can deny it in these moments. What can we do, say no? We can do that but the difference between contracts here and contracts there are so big, that causes problems. 100%."
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 Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss whether Mohamed Salah could actually join Al Ittihad from Liverpool, Bayern Munich's hunt of Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, the ongoing Sofyan Amrabat to Man Utd saga & more!
If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!