‘Mohamed Salah is going there’ – New signing plan revealed by top source after Liverpool twist
Saudi Arabia want to begin attracting younger elite talent to their league which could mean a dramatic Mohamed Salah U-turn.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who is still backing Salah to leave Liverpool and move to Saudi in the summer.
Salah’s future was in doubt heading into the January window, after claiming he had no relationship with manager Arne Slot.
The 33-year-old now looks set to remain at Anfield until the end of the season, and has started all three games since returning from the African Cup of Nations.
Mohamed Salah to ‘replace’ Cristiano Ronaldo
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – states that Saudi are looking to move away from signing players over 30.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness believes Saudi will still make a move for Salah to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Well, it’s funny, Salah would be an outlier because the policy that I’m hearing is we’re talking about the 50 players, it’s a big number, but that’s potentially nearly all the clubs in Saudi.
“Now the reason it is this sort of number, and where it has come from, is the fact that when the Saudi league started, they all signed two or three big name players at the time and now those contracts are coming up for renewal again, and so they’re looking to replenish and to restock in a lot of those places.
“The policy though they’ve said is that they only want to assign players between 21 and 30, so they’re moving away from the older names to establish the league into phase two where they’re going to try and make it more competitive and bring younger talent in.
“Now of course Salah doesn’t fit into that. But then again, he is the outlier and the exception because he is Mo Salah. He’s Egyptian, he’s a Muslim, and he is a great world talent, and they need to replace Ronaldo.
“And so, of course, I still believe, and always have done, that Salah’s going to go there. So I think he is the outlier in terms of the policy that they’ve talked about of signing younger players now.”
Liverpool to target Tottenham star
Salah may not be the only star to depart Anfield in the summer, with the likes of Ibrahima Konate also potentially on the move.
If Konate does depart, Liverpool could pursue Tottenham centre-back Micky van de Ven to bolster their defence.
Van de Ven could try and force a move away from Spurs if the club’s fortunes do not improve, with Thomas Frank’s side unlikely to qualify for the Champions League this season.