Saudi manager Gerrard sends transfer warning to European clubs as Liverpool receive unlikely boost
Al-Ettifaq manager Steven Gerrard says his side are ready to “scour Europe” when the transfer window re-opens in January.
The Damman-based side were one of many Saudi Arabian clubs to spend big in the summer transfer window.
Perhaps the most controversial and talked about deals of the summer was Jordan Henderson’s move from Liverpool to reunite with Gerrard in the Middle East.
As well as Henderson, the former Rangers and Aston Villa boss signed Georginio Wijnaldum, Jack Hendry, Moussa Dembele, and Everton’s Demarai Gray.
The heavy spending in the Saudi Pro League is not expected to be short-lived.
Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah is still being linked with Karim Benzema’s Al-Ittihad after they failed with a bid worth around £150million late on in the summer transfer window.
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And Gerrard has told reporters that Al-Ettifaq are ready to “scour Europe” to improve his squad in the winter transfer window.
“To assure our fans, we are going to scour Europe for more options,” the 43-year-old said. “But we’ll also, more importantly, need to scour locally to improve this squad to be more competitive.”
Liverpool will hope they can fend off Saudi interest in Salah, although Reds manager Jurgen Klopp recently said that the Egyptian has shown no signs that he is ready to leave Anfield.
“Mo Salah is here. He never told me he wanted to go and I didn’t think a second about it,” the German boss said.
“He is here and feels extremely well. He is in great shape on the pitch and he’s in even better shape off the pitch, he’s really positive.
“He enjoys the company with the boys and wants to maximise the potential.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool have been boosted by the news that Real Madrid are not looking to sign anyone in January.
Reportedly viewed as Klopp’s ‘perfect’ centre-back signing, Sporting defender Goncalo Inacio has been strongly linked with Los Blancos and a recent report from Diario AS said the La Liga giants are ready to sign him in the winter window.
However, it has now been claimed by Fichajes that Carlo Ancelotti is happy with his squad and will not sign Inacio – who reportedly has a £51m release clause – halfway through the season.
This could open the door for the Reds to sign the Portuguese international in January, with Klopp eager to bring in a young centre-back.
The report says Madrid will ‘remain calm’ when the transfer window opens and Ancelotti is ‘confident’ in his current squad of players.
With no signings on the agenda, it is noted that sales are a possibility.
One player being linked with an exit is reported Aston Villa target Dani Ceballos, who played under Villans boss Unai Emery during a loan spell at Arsenal.
Ceballos signed a new contract earlier this year but minutes have been hard to come by in 2023/24, so Ancelotti is open to selling him.
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