Al-Ittihad may well be finally accepting defeat in the race to sign Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah this summer with their world-record offer still not being accepted by the English giants.
According to Mike McGrath, of The Telegraph, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad fear time is running out in their bid to land Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah before Thursday’s transfer deadline.
They are ready for a final bid this summer of £200m for Salah but there has been no appetite on Liverpool’s side to engage in what would be a world-record deal.
With the transfer window closing today for all of the Saudi Pro League sides, sources close to Al-Ittihad believe it is too late to get a deal done before the 10pm deadline.
This would come as a huge blow for the Saudi side who believe Salah would be the ideal player to bring into the club and attract more eyes than ever on the division because of his background and just how good the Liverpool man is.
Al-Ittihad won’t give up
One thing that has been a feature of the Saudi side’s pursuit of Salah has been their willingness to keep fighting to sign the 31-year-old.
In general, the teams from the Middle East have been very abrasive in their approach to signing these players from some of Europe’s top clubs.
Salah, who signed a two-year contract extension with Liverpool last summer, will remain the Saudi side’s top targets.
The report says that the side, who have Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante among their stars, will push again for Salah next summer.
It’s unclear if the Anfield club would be more open to letting the winger go next summer but with Salah being a year older, you do wonder if Jurgen Klopp would target a replacement for the iconic Premier League forward.