Liverpool, Salah’s farewell increasingly likely: the Serie A hypothesis is gaining ground
The news of Mohamed Salah’s nonconvocation for the Champions League match between Inter Milan and Liverpool, scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 9, at 9 p.m. at the San Siro, certainly did not seem like a bolt out of the blue. The break between the Egyptian footballer and Reds coach Arne Slot is now total and it is increasingly likely that the two-time African Footballer of the Year award winner will decide to walk through the Anfield exit door permanently. At the window are the “usual” Saudi clubs, with coach Simone Inzaghi’s Al-Hilal and Al-Qadsiah, for whom Mateo Retegui plays, certainly interested, but not only that: Serie A also reportedly has its eye on the Egyptian, who knows the Bel Paese championship well.
As reported by the English version of Espn, in fact, Mohamed Salah’s entourage would be in contact with some clubs in the Italian top league (without, however, specifying their names) to assess the feasibility of a transfer, even as early as January. The main knot, however, is that of the termination of his contract, which expires in 2027: Liverpool is unlikely to find an agreement with the prospect of losing one of the strongest players of his generation without recovering a single pound. Easier is a solution that puts together two different formulas, with a loan, perhaps onerous, this’winter and an outright sale in the summer.
Salah has already played for two and a half seasons in Serie A: in fact, Fiorentina picked him up from Chelsea in January 2015 in exchange for €1 million for a six-month loan, while Roma bought him outright, again from the Blues, the summer of that same year, immediately paying €5 million for the one-year loan and, subsequently, €15.5 million for the definitive acquisition of the player’s card for the 2016-2017 season. Salah would then go to Liverpool in June 2017: the Reds paid about 50 million, including bonuses, to secure the Egyptian star’s performance.
The Reds paid around 50 million, including bonuses, to secure the Egyptian star’s performance.
Following the latest statements against coach Arne Slot and the Liverpool top management (“First there was a bond, now there is zero. They are trying to lay the blame for the negative moment on me” was the footballer”s very harsh comment), came the non-convocation for the Champions. One more clue to a crisis that may have a solution, that of Salah’s return to Italy, unexpected until a few days ago.
