Mohamed Salah's Move to Saudi Arabia: Key Conditions for Transfer

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

The Liverpool icon, whose departure from Anfield was confirmed weeks ago, has signalled his willingness to join the Saudi Pro League, according to reports from Saudi outlet Marebpress. Yet any deal will only happen if a trio of major conditions are met, underlining the scale of his status and the control he intends to keep over the final stretch of his career.

This is not a quiet exit. It’s a superstar leaving on his own script, with a storm of opinion swirling behind him.

Salah’s Saudi stance: three non-negotiables

Salah, 33, will walk away from Liverpool one year before the end of his £400,000-per-week contract after a bruising season on and off the pitch. Liverpool laboured to a fifth-place finish, their form dipping so badly that it ultimately cost Arne Slot his job. The Egyptian’s fractious relationship with the Dutchman sat at the heart of the tension and, according to Dejan Lovren, played a decisive role in Salah’s decision to quit Anfield.

Now attention has swung to where he plays next.

Saudi clubs have been circling for months. Salah has long been one of the Saudi Pro League’s top targets, with proposals that stretch beyond mere wages into the realm of national showcase and global branding. Reports state he has already received an offer from one Saudi club, but the package on the table fell short of a previous proposal he had before renewing with Liverpool.

That won’t do anymore.

Per Marebpress, Salah has “granted approval” to a move to the Middle East, but only if three conditions are met:

• First, he wants an annual salary and financial benefits that match his status and vast marketing power. This is the contract of a global face of the sport, not just another marquee signing.
• Second, he is demanding a deal of two or three years to secure stability at what is likely the final major chapter of his elite career.
• Third, and crucially, he will only join a club with a genuine sporting project – a side built to compete for major titles, not one content simply to make up the numbers.

It aligns with what has already been reported: any Saudi move for Salah is expected to rank among the biggest sporting contracts in history, with an ambassadorial role to promote football in the country forming part of the pitch.

The money will be huge. The expectations, even bigger.

Lovren vs Carragher: the war over Salah’s exit

If the transfer story is high-stakes business, the fallout at Liverpool is pure emotion.

Salah’s exit has split the fanbase. Many supporters wanted him to see out his deal through to 2027, especially after nine years of relentless output on Merseyside. Liverpool, though, are already moving on, with Yan Diomande identified as their leading candidate to replace him on the right.

The arguments around why it ended this way, and who is to blame, have not cooled.

Into that debate has stepped Dejan Lovren, Salah’s closest friend in football and a former Liverpool defender, who has launched a fierce defence of the Egyptian and a stinging attack on Jamie Carragher.

Speaking to Winwin, Lovren did not hold back.

“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 accused some pundits of going after Salah for attention.

“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.”

Strong words, aimed straight at one of Liverpool’s most prominent voices.

Slot, Klopp and a broken bond

Lovren did not stop at the pundits. He went right to the dugout.

“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. They didn’t have a good relationship. Let’s put it simply,” he said.

With Jürgen Klopp, Lovren painted a very different picture.

“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 form. He lost backing.

“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.”

Those are the kind of comments that linger in a dressing room long after a star has gone.

A giant on the move

So Salah walks away from Anfield after nine years, leaving behind goals, trophies and a legacy that will sit alongside the club’s greats – and also leaving behind a row about how it all unravelled.

In front of him lies Saudi Arabia, with its money, its ambition and its desire for a new global figurehead. He has signalled he is ready. But only if they meet his price, his contract demands and his hunger to keep chasing major honours.

Liverpool plan for life without him. Saudi clubs sharpen their offers. His closest ally publicly calls out one of the club’s most famous former players.

For a man whose career has been defined by decisive moments, the next one is looming: which project will convince Mohamed Salah that it is worthy of the final prime years of his genius?