Liverpool star Mohamed Salah was ‘intrigued’ by move to PL rivals amid ‘hostile act’ for one reason

According to reports, Mohamed Salah was ‘intrigued’ about the prospect of leaving Liverpool for a rival Premier League side this summer.

Salah has been heavily linked with a potential move away from Liverpool this season as his previous contract was due to expire at the end of this campaign.

Despite this, it has been heavily reported that his preference has always been to remain at Liverpool and it was confirmed on Friday morning that he has penned a two-year contract extension.

This is a huge boost for Liverpool after it emerged that Trent Alexander-Arnold has agreed on a move to Real Madrid, while Virgil van Dijk is expected to follow Salah in signing a new contract beyond this season.

A new detailed report from The Athletic confirms Salah’s new deal has ‘no breaks or release clauses’ with ‘terms very similar to the ones that almost certainly made him the second-highest-paid player in the Premier League behind Manchester City striker Erling Haaland’, which is a ‘basic salary’ of around £350,000.

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The report has broken down how the process of Salah signing a new deal developed as the ‘path was not straightforward’.

Regarding the first meeting between Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and Ramy Abbas Issa (Salah’s agent), which took place in September 2024, it’s claimed the representative felt there was a ‘hostile act’.

‘That first conversation between Hughes and Abbas was brief and casual, with the sporting director promising that he would be in touch again soon to discuss Salah’s future. Like Edwards and Fallows had years earlier, Hughes would subsequently travel to Dubai to see Abbas, going twice before the end of 2024.

‘The first meeting, in late September, was held in the bar of one of the city’s quieter restaurants but the discussion was again short and informal until Hughes asked Abbas whether Salah wanted to stay at Liverpool.

‘Abbas told him that he did, but the sporting director flew back to the UK with Abbas concerned the club might not be willing to maintain his client’s level of remuneration.

‘Abbas was impressed by Hughes but was left asking himself whether Liverpool valued Salah quite as much as they used to. In his active mind, he wondered whether the lack of commitment represented a hostile act.’

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It is also suggested that Salah was ‘intrigued’ about a move to Premeir League rivals Chelsea.

‘By mid-January, the player’s sponsors were getting twitchy, keen to know where Salah’s future lay.

‘Abbas did the maths about what a move to France would mean — Salah’s endorsements would take a serious hit because Ligue 1 does not have the same global visibility as the Premier League.

‘This contributed to Abbas being more inclined towards a longer stay in England, preferably with Liverpool. Salah would not trash his legacy by joining a rival, which ruled out both Manchester City and neighbours United.

‘There was some intrigue about Chelsea, where he’d played for just over a year across 2014 and early 2015 and was considered a failure as he was first loaned to Fiorentina and fellow Italians Roma, then sold to the latter in August 2016.

‘Salah felt as though he still had something to prove at Stamford Bridge, yet any deal to go back was reliant on Chelsea abandoning a transfer strategy that focuses on signing young players.

‘Any move to another English club was also made more complicated by the fact none of them were legally allowed to negotiate with Salah until May.

‘By the end of January, Salah had told his family that there was a chance they would have to uproot from their Cheshire home.

‘For Abbas, there were now two clear options: stay at Liverpool, or, somewhat reluctantly, agree a deal with the only alternative that could satisfy his financial expectations.

‘That meant one of the Saudi Arabian clubs, most likely reigning champions Al Hilal in the capital, Riyadh, who had wanted him for their Club World Cup campaign this summer.

‘Though Abbas had held talks with other clubs owned by the state Public Investment Fund (PIF), he was increasingly beginning to think that the interest in his client was a charm offensive by the country’s football powers to show how highly Salah was valued.’