Mohamed Salah's Conditions for Saudi Arabia Move: What He Wants

Mohamed Salah has given the go-ahead for a move to Saudi Arabia – but only on his terms, and they are anything but modest.

The Liverpool icon, whose departure from Anfield this summer was confirmed weeks ago, has signalled his willingness to head to the Saudi Pro League, with reports in Saudi outlet Marebpress claiming he has “granted approval” to a switch. That green light, though, comes with three hard conditions that underline both his status and his ambition.

Salah’s Saudi stance: three non-negotiables

Salah, 33, leaves Liverpool a year before the end of his £400,000-per-week deal after a turbulent season on and off the pitch. Liverpool collectively stumbled, scraping fifth place in a campaign overshadowed by poor results and the emotional weight of the tragic passing of teammate Diogo Jota. The fallout cost Arne Slot his job and, according to those close to Salah, played a major role in pushing the Egyptian out the door.

Interest from Saudi Arabia never went away. For months, clubs in the Saudi Pro League have circled, ready to hand Salah not just a colossal contract but also a broader role in promoting the game in the region. An offer has already arrived, Marebpress report, but it fell short of what Salah had previously been promised before he last renewed with Liverpool.

So he has drawn a line.

Per the report, Salah has insisted on:

• An annual salary and financial package that reflects his global standing and marketing power – not simply a pay rise, but a deal in line with the very top tier of world sport.
• A contract of two or three years to give him stability in what could be the final prime stretch of his career.
• A move to a club with a genuine sporting project, one built to compete for major titles rather than merely take part.

This is not a player cashing out for a gentle final chapter. Salah wants money, yes, but also medals and meaning.

Liverpool, for their part, have shut the book on his nine-year stay. The club is deep into the search for his replacement, with Yan Diomande identified as their primary target. The debate over whether Salah should have stayed until 2027, though, still rages among supporters. And inside the old guard, emotions are running even hotter.

Lovren vs Carragher: the Salah exit turns toxic

Into that storm has stepped Dejan Lovren, Salah’s closest friend in football and a former Liverpool defender who has never shied away from speaking his mind. This time, his words are aimed squarely at Jamie Carragher.

Speaking to Winwin, Lovren tore into the treatment Salah received over the past season, labelling the criticism “disgusting”.

“The way they treated him this season is not harsh. It’s disgusting,” he said. “Why didn’t they talk about him like this for the past eight or nine years? Tell me… OK, one season, and then he’s the target again. There are so many other issues.”

Lovren believes some pundits are playing to the cameras.

“He’s being really heavily criticised. Some pundits do it just to attract attention, maybe because they haven’t succeeded in other areas of their lives, so now they need to perform well… especially Carragher, he says whatever he wants. I always said he should tell him this to his face, say all these things to Mo to his face.

“He’ll never say that. Because I know he never will, because he never said it to me. He’s talked badly about me too, but he never said that to me anyway. You know, he’s just performing on TV and he gets paid for it, so he needs to perform this way.”

Those remarks cut to the heart of a wider unease around Salah’s exit: was this simply the end of a cycle, or a relationship mishandled from the inside?

Blame laid at Slot’s door

Lovren is in no doubt where responsibility lies.

“I don’t think it’s the management (that pushed Salah to leave). I think it’s just one person, and I think it’s just the manager,” he said. “They didn’t have a good relationship. Let’s put it simply. With Klopp, he had a really good relationship.

“It wasn’t always perfect, but they knew each other very well, let’s say that too, and they trusted each other, they liked each other, and Mo gave everything on the pitch for Klopp, and Klopp gave him that trust. But (with Slot) it was the opposite. It’s that simple, and everyone knows it because when you look at the previous eight or nine seasons, he did really well.”

In Lovren’s eyes, Salah did not just lose a manager; he lost a shield. The Croatian suggests the dressing room also failed to step up when the pressure on Salah intensified.

“There are other players who should also take responsibility and say, ‘yes, this is my fault’, but you know, some players never came forward,” he added. “There was mismanagement; internally, they didn’t handle it well. They didn’t handle it well. Even if you have some problems, you have to talk about it in the dressing room, and like I said, Mo never felt that support. He was always the front-page headline, ‘Ah, it’s Mohamed Salah, don’t be surprised.’ I mean… it’s a deep-seated issue.”

So Liverpool move on, building a new attack without the man who defined an era. Salah, meanwhile, stands on the brink of a move that could reshape the Saudi Pro League again – but only if those three conditions are met.

The next contract he signs will say as much about his legacy as any goal he scores.