That Mohamed Salah’s next club will be Saudi Arabian is in little doubt. If the country’s Pro League wants to become a world-leading football destination, then by far the greatest player in the Arab world is a must-buy. And of all the objectives of the Saudi football project, landing Salah is surely among the most achievable. Liverpool’s best-paid player, on a reported £350,000 (S$595,500) a week, will be offered multiples of that to make it a fait accompli. 

The plan, its public operatives say, was always for Salah to be signed in 2024, though that did not prevent Al-Ittihad’s reported world-record bid worth £215 million for the Reds’ star forward. That it came in the days after the European transfer window’s closure, the Saudi one open for six more days until last Thursday, was an unwelcome distraction for them. Among their Premier League peers are Newcastle, majority-owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF). 

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