Mohamed Salah could make the move to Saudi Arabia in the future if an Asian Football Confederation and Saudi Pro League official has his way.
The Public Investment Fund, which owns an 80% stake in Newcastle United, announced they had taken ownership of the four leading clubs in Saudi Arabia earlier this month - Al Ittihad, Al Ahli, Al Nassr and Al Hilal.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr earlier this year, before the PIF takeover, with Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante since joining Al Ittihad, and Ruben Neves in the process of finalising a switch to Al Hilal. And while the likes of Lionel Messi, Romelu Lukaku and Son Heung-min, along with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard as manager, have rejected moving to Saudi Arabia, Neymar, Bernardo Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly, Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Wilfried Zaha are just some of the names said to still be considering such moves themselves.
Hafez Al-Medlej has held a number of positions in the running of both the Asian Football Confederation and Saudi Pro League, including recently being credited as head of the AFC marketing committee and also previously serving as a director. And when defending the Saudi League’s transfer ambitions, insisting they aren’t just a final payday for players, he declared they should work on a transfer to lure Mohamed Salah away from Liverpool.
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“We are only living the beginning,” he told Koura, quoted by AS. “All transferable footballers will from now on be targeted by Saudi clubs.
“The experience of China has nothing to do with us, theirs was purely marketing. Soccer there is not the most popular. In Arabia we have a state project and it will not be limited to four great teams, but to all of them. Because the passion for football of the Saudis has no limits.
“We do not hire players who are already finished. Al Hilal is going to sign Ruben Neves, who is 26 years old and who Barcelona wanted. And Benzema has already arrived at Al Ittihad after being crowned the Ballon d'Or with Real Madrid, who is faced with the dilemma of replacing him.
“The European Champions League is the jewel in the crown of all European championships, and this tournament is based on two elements. The first is the clubs, which are gigantic entities, and the second is the players.
“The departure of the big stars from Europe will be a hard blow for the Champions League and the tournament will lose much of its brilliance. We have an example in La Liga. They lost a lot with the transfer of Ronaldo to Juventus. And then they lost more when Messi went to Paris Saint-Germain.
“The departure of the stars from Europe will affect sponsorship and television contracts. Messi is the best footballer at the moment and his incorporation would have provided great value. But we are not going to compensate him with a substitute player.
“Let’s hope that Bernardo Silva, from Manchester City, arrives. 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 currently under contract at Anfield until 2025, having signed a new contract with Liverpool last summer that made him the best-paid player in the club's history.
