Without Mohamed Salah, Liverpool's chances of returning to the Champions League would be diminished. Photo: Shutterstock/Adam Vaughan
As the numbers rise As the football world concluded that Liverpool could not prevent the imminent departure of their star player, Jurgen Klopp issued a «read my lips» statement.
“What they offer in the end doesn’t matter.” — he said.
— From a financial point of view, there is no limit that would allow him to leave. There is no price we are willing to give up for.»
John Henry, Liverpool's majority owner, had previously read the same script. “I make it clear that we will not sell, no matter what price is offered,” he said.
These words were not uttered in response to Saudi Arabia's spectacular £150 million bid for Mohamed Salah. Klopp spoke about this in the summer of 2017, when Barcelona made the first move for Philippe Coutinho.
Henry's remarks in 2013 were directed at Arsenal, who seemed confident of signing Luis Suarez for £40 million and £1.
When the transfer window closed in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, Liverpool “I was driving along a well-traveled road. Consequently, there is good reason to guess where it will lead next in the Saudi pursuit of Salah.
The trend is that Liverpool are passionately resisting now and reluctant to sell later.
Within a year of Klopp and Henri's announcements, Coutinho and Suarez had left and defiance eventually succumbed to pragmatic reality amid unusual offers and increasingly hostile tactics from players and their representatives.
Coutinho left for £142m sterling six months after his request for transfer. Suarez stayed for another year before Barcelona paid £75 million.
We know that the Saudis lust after Salah with the passion of a child who will not give in until their favorite toy is theirs. They have the right to assume that they will eventually get what they want. But having rejected the deal this summer, Liverpool have made a shrewd and valuable purchase of their own. Time.
As with the departures of Suarez and Coutinho, a situation will arise in the near future where Liverpool will have favorable conditions to sell Salah.
South American offers in the summers of 2013 and 2017 were more attractive in 2014 and 2018. If Liverpool had not sold Coutinho, for example, they would never have been able to afford the then-record transfer of goalkeeper Alisson Becker. Fabinho's arrival in 2018 was also likely linked to the sale of Coutinho.
The size of the Saudi bid for Salah was staggering. This was done a few days before the European transfer deadline closed, making it unpleasant.
There will be a £150m bid next summer for the soon-to-be 32-year-old with a year left on his contract. will feel like winning the lottery rather than an unwanted and potentially destabilizing distraction.
The Merseyside club must already be assessing who should be on their right wing at the start of the 2025/26 season when Salah is contracted will expire. The contingency plan for responding earlier should be polished and ready by the end of this season.
But that was always a matter of the future.
Without Salah, Liverpool's closest defender, the chances of returning to the Champions League will diminish. The club made £103 million from reaching the Champions League final in 2022, so whatever short-term gain it may have made from selling Salah, it risks being a long-term casualty.
Replacing him within 48 hours of the £150m offer was also virtually impossible. Each club Liverpool approached to fill the void would immediately add £50 million to the asking price. Liverpool have been dealing with this all summer and have been amazed that their assessments of promising players have been met with absurd responses. On at least two occasions, Liverpool responded with stupid and overly emotional offers for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
Even Klopp wasn't entirely sold on the idea of spending so much money. As ridiculous as it may sound, £150 million in the current Premier League market isn't that much. Without anyone involved, the sale would have undermined a promising start to the season and drawn sharp criticism from those who would have accused Fenway Sports Group of putting profit before ambition.
By the start of next summer's transfer window » Liverpool, Klopp and even those fans who worship Salah will be thinking with their hearts more than their brains if they turn down £150 million. Liverpool hope to be back in the Champions League by then, with recent signings already settled and some exciting youngsters now more experienced.
However, caution should be exercised before assuming that Salah's story will follow the same choreography as Suarez and Coutinho. The Egyptian's professionalism in respecting Liverpool's response rather than demanding action is commendable and stands in stark contrast to the way his coveted predecessors responded when Liverpool initially refused to budge.
Brendan Rodgers sent Suarez to train at the Academy. Players, while Coutinho suffered a back strain that only seemed to affect him when the transfer window was open. Klopp eventually decided that Liverpool could thrive without Coutinho by restructuring the team. Salah is very much a team player, despite his occasional groans after being substituted and his determination to continue taking penalties after missing three of his last five.
Liverpool's number 11 is much more of a team player than Philippe Coutinho or Luis Suarez. Photo: AP/Jon Super
Only the naive would believe that Salah was unaware that a Saudi offer had been made last week. If Liverpool were to blink, it would leave the club vulnerable to a concerted media campaign in which the blame game would focus on the club wanting to let their star go. We will never know how this chess game would have ended. Klopp and FSG's vision was clear.
And despite the wealth he missed out on — at least temporarily — Salah knows his football ambitions are still best realized in the Premier League. With all due respect, Al Ittihad is not Barcelona, and the Saudi Pro League still resembles a nursing home.
The Saudis have unlimited wealth and ambition. What they don't yet have is a football project tempting enough for a world-class player at the peak of his career to desperately pursue a transfer.
By keeping Salah, Liverpool have demonstrated that resistance is not futile, thereby ensuring maximum return for yourself. the coveted player will only leave according to the club's preferred schedule and the coach's terms.
The Saudis inadvertently sowed the seeds of their failure in this case by making it clear that it was never a take-it-or-leave-it situation. an offer for Salah and the Anfield club.
Liverpool can keep him now knowing they will have the opportunity to take advantage of him later.
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