Before the original £100 million Saudi Arabian offer became public, Jurgen Klopp assured reporters that Mohamed Salah is “super committed” to Liverpool.
After the press conference on Friday morning and after Al Ittihad’s proposal had been received and rejected on Thursday evening, Klopp was speaking to reporters.
Klopp had made the assertion that he was unaware of any bid during the news conference, possibly using his best poker face.
Separately, Klopp discussed Salah with reporters from the Saturday newspapers, including Andy Hunter of the Guardian, saying:
“Mo is very dedicated, genuinely putting all of his effort into his training, and this week he was there in all of the leadership meetings.
“I have to deal with facts, and my fact is ‘All good, we are here, and everything is fine.'”
The initial £100 million offer, plus a further £50 million in prospective add-ons, was rejected by Liverpool, but there were rumors later on Friday that the Saudi team might make a second, £200 million offer.
No such bid has been reported as of 11 p.m.
The Saudi Arabian transfer window is still open until September 7, so they could reopen negotiations later this week. The Premier League transfer window ended at 11 p.m.
Liverpool would, of course, have no chance to sign a replacement at that point, which is why it is likely to be rejected once more.
Rammy Abbas, Salah’s agent, earlier this summer tweeted: “Salah’s agent has previously dismissed allegations linking Salah with Saudi Arabia.
He commented on Monday morning, “If we had thought about leaving LFC this year, we wouldn’t have renewed the contract.”
“Mohamed is still dedicated to LFC.”
Despite the new connections and the Middle East’s genuine bid, Abbas has remained silent.
Nobody can be certain whether it is all true or a larger PR ruse designed to make headlines about Saudi Arabia on the last day of the European transfer window.
