Rumor Mongering: Salah Unlikely To Leave For Saudi Arabia In January

Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Also: water is wet, and Salah’s abs are glorious.

At one point this summer, there was the very real prospect of Mohamad Salah joining his former Liverpool teammates, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane, in the Saudi Pro League.

However, despite the eye-watering fees bandied about—not to mention the enormous salary that would come with it—nothing, not even so much as an official bid, ever materialized.

It has been mostly quiet on the Saudi front, as Salah and the Reds kicked on and now find themselves at the top of the Premier League table, in the League Cup quarterfinals, and in the Round of 16 in the Europa League. The Egyptian King has been no small part of Liverpool’s resurgence, contributing 14 goals and 7 assists across all competitions so far.

Although there is a real possibility of a Saudi club coming back in for him in the summer, even the Saudi Pro League doesn’t expect that any amount of money would be enough to persuade Salah to leave midseason.

“Mo Salah, like [Lionel] Messi, [Karim] Benzema, [Cristiano] Ronaldo and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, these are players that when there is a sense of availability for them, we are willing to listen,” Saudi Pro League’s Director of Football Michael Emenalo said in an interview.

“But we also understand that Mo is happy where he is at present and in a historic, wonderful club at Liverpool.

“We respect that very much and we don’t want to come across as putting any pressure on him. But if there is any interest to do something, Mo Salah is a player that you want in your league, in any league.”

This is, of course, as subtle as sending a “U up” text in the middle of the night. I expect we’ll hear much more about the possibility of Mo moving in the summer, but it doesn’t seem to be on for now.

Given Salah’s importance to the team, it does not seem as likely that the club would let him leave without a fight. Moreover, Mo does not seem the type who would be super interested in playing in front of 600 fans in a league that no one cares about or watches.