Liverpool face rude Mohamed Salah surprise as €200m Saudi transfer looms

Mohamed Salah is expected to leave Liverpool for the Saudi Pro League this summer, but the fee he will fetch is surprising.

The Egyptian has endured a disappointing decline this season. Salah is nowhere near the player he was during his record-breaking 2024/25 campaign, when he was playing for a new Liverpool contract.

As a result, head coach Arne Slot experimented with different line-ups in the first half of the season, resulting in Salah ending up on the bench. He took exception to this, and a public spat ensued.

Ultimately, Slot managed to smooth things over, but Salah’s future at Anfield has been in doubt ever since. Recently, reports have intensified that the 33-year-old has opened up to the idea of leaving Liverpool for Saudi Arabia.

FootballTransfers already reported last summer that Salah is fully expected to leave Liverpool in 2026, despite having been handed fresh terms until 2027. A move to the Pro League is becoming ever more concrete, and talks with Al-Ittihad have reportedly already taken place.

Liverpool to receive trifling Salah fee

However, while Saudi clubs were ready to shell out over €150 million for Salah in previous years, this is no longer the case. Indeed, according to TEAMtalk, Pro League clubs are unlikely to offer more than the €42m Liverpool paid to sign Salah from AS Roma in 2017.

This echoes reports that already made the rounds in December when the outcome of Salah’s row with Slot was still not entirely clear. At the time, it was claimed that Salah would command a fee in the same ballpark as Darwin Nunez, who left the Reds for Al-Hilal for €53m last summer.

With Salah six months older and six months closer to the end of his contract, it makes sense that his price will be lower in the summer. He currently has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €49m.

The reasoning from Saudi Arabia is twofold. For one, Salah is old (for a footballer), and they are looking to shift their focus to younger players, hence they are no longer ready to break the bank on veterans.

Additionally, Salah will receive an eye-watering contract when he makes the move, so the budget made available for his signing will go towards his salary rather than his transfer fee. Saudi insider Ben Jacobs previously reported that the Egyptian could make up to €200m annually.

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