“Never say never” – David Ornstein makes interesting admission on Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah joining Al-Ittihad
Journalist David Ornstein has not ruled out a surprise move for Liverpool's Mohamed Salah to Al-Ittihad this summer.
The Premier League transfer window shuts on September 1, but the Saudi Pro League window extends deep into the month. The Saudi giants have concrete interest in Liverpool's 31-year-old superstar, who still has two years left in his club-record contract.
The Reds have been adamant that they do not want to sell Salah. Giving his verdict on a potential move, though, Ornstein said (h/t TheBootRoom):
"Listen, the interest from Al-Ittihad is so concrete that you suspect they’ll keep trying until the end of this window, probably until the end of the Saudi pro league window on the 20th of September.
"Liverpool’s stance has been made abundantly clear – he’s not for sale...But you wouldn’t put it past Al-Ittihad, the Saudi Pro League, one of the PIF clubs to make a late surge before the window closes."
He continued:
"The Mail are reporting it, there have been lot of reports coming from Saudi Arabia suggesting that there is confidence that actually, Al-Ittihad could yet pull this off. Our information, you know, is not suggesting that at the moment, but never say never I guess."
A recent report by the Mail claims that Al-Ittihad are going to test Liverpool's resolve by making a huge £118 million bid for the former Chelsea winger. He's arguably their most important player up front.
Salah, despite being at Anfield for just six seasons, is already the club's fifth-highest goal-scorer (187 goals in 308 games). He has also finished as their top-scorer across competitions in every season he has been on Merseyside since arriving from AS Roma in 2017.
Jurgen Klopp has said that Liverpool don't want to sell Mohamed Salah
Al-Ittihad have been linked with Mohamed Salah for large swathes of the summer transfer window.
The reports cooled down before sparking up once again during the tail end of August. After his team's enthralling 2-1 Premier League win against Newcastle United on Sunday, a reporter asked Reds manager Jurgen Klopp that the Salah story 'hadn't gone away'.
The German tactician replied, via Sky Sports (h/t Mirror):
"For me, it has."
The Reds have Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota as their first-team options in attack. Harvey Elliott and Curtis can and have played as wingers before.
However, Salah's sale this late in the window will undoubtedly irk the Reds fanbase. He's arguably one of their best players in the 21st century and has shown no signs of slowing down despite entering his 30s.