Club do not want to give Saudi suitors impression there is no way back; Meanwhile, Carragher apologises for calling forward ‘a disgrace’

Liverpool have no plans for an Anfield farewell for Mohamed Salah on Saturday as the club look to protect any potential future transfer fee.

Salah has several Saudi Arabian clubs willing to do “whatever it takes” to sign him, with official bids expected next month. As yet there have been no material offers from the long list of Saudi clubs interested in the player.

Liverpool’s position is that Salah is under contract until 2027 and the club have no desire to give any potential acquiring clubs the sense that Salah has no way back at Anfield.

The optics of the player on the pitch waving goodbye to the fans would work against Liverpool in any negotiations for a fee, which the club believe they would be due should Salah leave.

The 33-year-old has yet to learn whether he will be part of the squad for the game against Brighton and Hove Albion. Liverpool travelled back from Italy on Wednesday following their Champions League win over Inter Milan on Tuesday night.

Thursday is a day off for the squad and Friday will be a key day in telling the players the team for Saturday. Non-playing members of the squad are always expected to attend home games.

Salah was already scheduled to depart with the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco after Saturday.

In his interview last Saturday, which blew open the dispute between the player and his club, Salah said: “I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go to the Africa Cup of Nations. I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.”

Competition between Saudi clubs

Saudi clubs have funds to land Salah despite scaling back their spending on transfers, and there is widespread interest in bringing him to the Middle East for his profile “on and off the pitch”.

Four clubs – Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Ahli – are owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) but other clubs willing to move for Salah include Al Qadsiah, who are linked to state-owned energy giant Aramco. A source told AFP clubs are ready to do “whatever it takes” to sign the forward, who is arguably the most recognisable Muslim footballer in the world.

“There is competition within the Saudi league to bring in Salah,” a source said. “It’s not only the PIF-affiliated clubs.”

Many fans were angry last season when it became clear that Trent Alexander-Arnold intended to leave as a free agent, and the mood turned against him in his final months at the club. Liverpool were eventually able to recoup an early-release fee of around £10m when he departed for Real Madrid in time for the Fifa Club World Cup.

The club would insist on a fee for Salah were he to leave while still under contract.

There is also a possibility that Salah, who trained with the squad on Monday and alone on Tuesday, may come to an agreement with the hierarchy on a way to end the stand-off. That would be decided by director of football Richard Hughes and Slot and would have to be approved by majority owner Fenway Sports Group, in particular chief executive of football Michael Edwards, from the FSG office based in the North West, and in the United States with FSG president Mike Gordon.

Carragher apologises

Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher has apologised to Salah after calling him a “disgrace” for his interview last Saturday.

Carragher, a Telegraph Sport columnist, was a pundit on CBS Sport’s coverage of Liverpool’s victory in Milan and was asked by his colleague Micah Richards whether he wanted to say sorry.

Carragher replied: “Mo, I apologise I’ve upset you. I love you as the Liverpool player, but you just need to behave yourself off the pitch.”

Jurgen Klopp, who won the league title and Champions League with Salah during his tenure as Liverpool manager, said he only encountered problems with the forward when he substituted him or did not play him.

The pair were involved in a heated touchline exchange at West Ham in May last year and Salah refused to answer questions in the mixed zone afterwards, saying: “If I speak there will be fire.”

Speaking on a BBC documentary on Salah, Klopp said: “We pushed each other, just to make sure that we would never stop. And we never did stop. That moment lifting the Premier League bonded us for life. He will be remembered as one of the greatest of all time.

“I wouldn’t say he is easy to manage, but he is also not difficult to manage. You [only] have problems with Mo Salah if he is not playing or you take him off.”

Players: It is not for us to intervene

Several Liverpool players have said it is now down to the club and Salah to find a path out of the biggest row of the season.

“Of course I’ve spoken to him,” said Virgil van Dijk, the Liverpool captain. “I’ve been with Mo for such a long time and he’s been a big part of my success that I’ve had, a big part of the club’s success and I’ve been a big part of his success.

“I’ve no idea what will happen. I’m not the decision-maker here, it is a decision between the club and Mo. Whatever happens, we’re friends, we’ve been through high and lows. Let’s see what it brings.

“There is no point in me saying if someone has let someone down. He didn’t travel based on the consequences of what he said after the game and that’s it. He trained perfectly normally [on Monday] and let’s see when we get back and train on Friday what the situation will be like. My focus is on the team and Mo is still part of the team so we will see what happens.”

Liverpool won on Tuesday night after Dominik Szoboszlai’s winning penalty in the 88th minute, with fans singing Slot’s name during the game.

“I’m very close with him,” Szoboszlai said. “It’s nothing to do with the players. It’s him. His own choice what he is doing with his own life and own career. It’s not our decision as players. I love him as a human being, as a friend of mine, as a player. He has done so much for this club, it’s going to be his club and his decision.” (Telegraph)

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