Soccer

Liverpool insist Mohamed Salah is not for sale as Al-Ittihad step up interest

Manchester City have completed the €64m signing of Belgium winger Jérémy Doku from Rennes

Mohamed Salah, one of Liverpool's key players. Photograph: George Wood/Getty
Mohamed Salah, one of Liverpool's key players. Photograph: George Wood/Getty
Fabrizio Romano
Ben Fisher
Thu Aug 24 2023 - 20:01

Liverpool have no intention of selling Mohamed Salah during this transfer window and will not negotiate with Al-Ittihad, who are making a renewed push to try and tempt the Egypt forward to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Ittihad, who bought Fabinho from Liverpool for €46 million (£40 million) this summer, were previously thought to be willing to bid about €60 million (£52m) for Salah, and were prepared to offer the 31-year-old a two-year contract worth a reported €180m (£141m).

The Saudi Pro League are now prepared to offer Salah almost double that amount to tempt him into a move, and are hoping to sound out the player before approaching Liverpool with a bid. There is thought to have been direct contact between Salah’s team and Liverpool about the new offer, but the club’s position remains unchanged.

Earlier this month Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, distanced the Egypt forward from a move to Saudi Arabia. “If we considered leaving [Liverpool] this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract last summer,” Issa tweeted. “Mohamed remains committed to LFC.”

READ SOME MORE

There is no indication yet that Salah, who is the highest-paid player in Liverpool history, has changed his mind over the move – but if he has, the only option open to him is to try and force a move from Anfield.

The Saudi transfer window is open until September 20th, almost three weeks after the Premier League deadline on September 1st. Al-Ittihad have also signed Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté and former Celtic winger Jota already this summer.

Elsewhere, Manchester City have completed the €64 million (£55.5m) signing of Belgium winger Jérémy Doku from Rennes, the Premier League champions have announced.

The 21-year-old has signed a five-year deal with the treble winners to become their third major signing of the summer transfer window. City had an offer for the player accepted earlier this week and formalities have been completed over the past couple of days.

Doku’s arrival follows those of Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic earlier in the summer. The club have also been linked with moves for midfielders Matheus Nunes and Eberechi Eze, of Wolves and Crystal Palace respectively, but have not commented on the speculation.

Guardiola’s midfield resources have been depleted following the departures of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez this summer and with Doku’s international team-mate, Kevin De Bruyne, likely to be out injured for several months.

Wolves swiftly rejected Manchester City’s opening offer on Thursday of €55 million (£47m) for Nunes but are braced for the Premier League champions to intensify their interest. Guardiola is a big admirer of the Portugal midfielder and previously described him as “one of the best players in the world”. Wolves would only consider a substantial bid.

City had been pushing to complete a deal for Lucas Paquetá but had to look elsewhere after the West Ham midfielder became the subject of a Football Association investigation over alleged betting breaches.

Nunes, who became Wolves €49 million (£42m) record signing from Sporting last summer, will miss Saturday’s trip to Everton after being sent off in the 4-1 defeat against Brighton last Saturday.

Aymeric Laporte has completed his move from Manchester City to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr, the Premier League champions have announced. The Saudi Pro League team are understood to have paid €27.4 million (£23.5m) for the 29-year-old Spain defender, who has spent the past five-and-a-half years at the Etihad Stadium.

Chelsea have completed the signing of Brazilian forward Deivid Washington from Santos for a fee in the region of €20 million (£17.2m).

The 18-year-old has signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge with the option of a further year.

Highly rated Ireland U21 forward Andrew Moran is set to move to Blackburn Rovers in a loan move from Brighton, with the medical booked for Friday. Moran had offers from Germany and Netherlands but Brighton are keen to send him to Blackburn due to manager Jon Dahl Tomasson’s possession-based style of play.