When it comes to major career moves, it seems June is the preferred month for Mohamed Salah.
It was on this day six years ago when the Egypt international signed for Liverpool from Roma, becoming the most expensive Reds player in history at the time when he joined on a five-year deal for an initial £36.9m.
Another major milestone for Salah would await him five years down the line when he penned the most lucrative contract ever signed at Liverpool having established himself as one of the greatest players of the modern era.
The man who has become affectionately known as 'the Egyptian King' by Liverpool fans ended months of intense speculation last year after a delegation from the club had flown in to see Salah at his apartment on the Greek island of Mykonos a few days earlier to thrash out the terms that left the Reds' top scorer of the last six seasons in no doubt about how much he is valued at Anfield.
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But while those June developments of 2017 and 2022 were hugely positive from Liverpool's perspective, the latest murmurings from the apparent football revolution over in Saudi Arabia will be much less welcome, even if they might only induce an eye-roll from those concerned at present.
Having seemingly secured Wolves captain Ruben Neves in recent days, it is Manchester City star Bernardo Silva who is the latest big name in the crosshairs for the Saudi Professional League.
While the Portugal international is behind Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne in City's galaxy of stars, the capture of Silva would still represent the most significant signing of this apparent new dawn.
While Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers of all time, his move to Al Nassr in November of last year was completed at the age of 37, while Karim Benzema, the current Ballon d'Or holder, switched from Real Madrid to Saudi champions Al Ittihad having celebrated his 35th birthday last December.
While both players are still capable of operating with distinction at the elite level, ageing stars moving to less demanding leagues for eye-watering, short-term pay-days is not a new trend in football.
The difference with Saudi Arabia's new-found determination to raise the profile of their top league, it seems, is that they are targeting major European-based players in their prime.
Silva - at the age of 28 and having just helped inspire Man City to a Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup treble - is just that. His potential exit from the Etihad would be a landmark moment for modern football, to an extent.
Unsurprisingly, given the extent of the ambition that now exists in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the aggressive, spendthrift nature of their pursuits, Salah is said to be high on the shortlist.
“Let’s hope that Bernardo Silva, from Manchester City, arrives," said Hafez Al-Medlej, an official of the Saudi Pro League, this week. "We must also start working on the signing of Mohamed Salah since he is overwhelmingly popular in the Arab world and in Europe. I think Salah still has records to break with Liverpool, so I hope that if he doesn’t come now he will in the future."
Salah is the posterboy of Egypt and the Middle East in general when it comes to football, with his popularity resulting in a surge in Liverpool's supporter-base out in the Arabic regions of the world.
And while there is no questioning the aspirations of Al-Medlej when it comes to looking to entice a star of Salah's magnitude to the KSA, he was at least gracious enough to concede that Liverpool's No.11 still has many goals to accomplish on Merseyside.
The former Roma wideman has never shied away from his wish to become the club's all-time top scorer. Having taken that particular mantle for the Premier League era thanks to two goals in the 7-0 win over Manchester United in March, Salah now sits fifth in the all-time list with his 186 goals, still 160 short of Ian Rush's record. The pair have grown close off the pitch in recent years and Rush is regularly subjected to tongue-in-cheek threats from Salah about his historic tally.
Salah, who turned 31 last week, is devoted to making the most of his talents at the top level of the game and such a mindset was why he was quick to post to social media when it was confirmed last month that Liverpool would be spending at least a season outside of the Champions League following their fifth-place finish.
"I’m totally devastated," he tweeted. "There’s absolutely no excuse for this. We had everything we needed to make it to next year’s Champions League and we failed. We are Liverpool and qualifying to the competition is the bare minimum. I am sorry but it’s too soon for an uplifting or optimistic post. We let you and ourselves down."
Sources within the club spoke about Salah's desire and belief to repeat what he preceded the contract signing last year and his 30-goal haul during a difficult campaign as a whole for the Reds last time out is indicative of that mindset from the now 31-year-old.
With a major season approaching Jurgen Klopp and his team - as they look to ensure last term was a one-off dip - Salah will be too focused on the here and now to be worrying about exorbitant offers from Saudi Arabia.
