The transfer news keeps on coming as Mohamed Salah to leave Liverpool and Yves Bissouma to Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are just a few of the latest reports doing the rounds.
Let’s start with the Salah talk first, as the 28-year-old Egyptian star has been in the news this week after an eye-catching interview about heading to La Liga and then being put on the bench by Jurgen Klopp...
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This talk came out of nowhere as Salah spoke to Spanish outlet AS about his future and hinted that Barcelona and Real Madrid could be a good destination for him. He also revealed his anger and not being named captain for a recent Champions League game. According to Egyptian legend Mohamed Aboutrika, Liverpool are thinking about selling Salah in the upcoming windows and the Egyptian winger has a lot of reasons to be unhappy.
Speaking to our partners in the UK about Salah, Klopp has further explained his feelings on reports his star forward is thinking about leaving.
“I’ve never been asked before in an interview if a player can do an interview or not,” Klopp said. “I saw the interview and I didn’t see anything that was difficult for us to deal with or whatever. Somebody asked him if he can imagine playing for Barcelona or [Real] Madrid and if you ask all the players in the world most of them would say ‘one day, maybe’ and stuff like this. It is completely normal.
“If you ask players, thank god, ‘could you imagine playing for Liverpool?’ a lot of players not here would say ‘yeah, it would be a big opportunity for me’ and stuff like this. It is completely normal in this kind of business. You ask a question, the player answers something and after that we work it through for the next four weeks. It depends on how interesting the player is and in the moment Mo Salah is obviously a highest profile player. So it is normal. It is really not an issue here.”
Klopp had previously moved to ease fears about Salah leaving Liverpool, although he did confirm they do not discuss contracts, he would not stand in Salah’s way if he wanted to leave and he admitted that star players need to have high levels of confidence and he will do that with Salah.
“The only reason to leave Liverpool at the moment is the weather. What other reason could there be?” Klopp said. “This is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We pay good money, maybe not the most in the world but we pay good, we have a sensational stadium with outstanding supporters, we have a fanbase all around the world and our colours are red, which is the nicest color anyway.
“You cannot force people to stay but that is it. We never did by the way. It is all about timing, the right moment. We make changes and bring players in and if a player wants to go then we cannot, probably not hold him back; it’s just that I would not understand why somebody would want to go. When Mo answered the question it was that these clubs might be interested and he didn’t rule that out. If you ask any player in the world who is not playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid if he can imagine playing there one day and he said: ‘No, Spanish football is not for me,’ why should he say that? The only thing he said was we shall see and it is in the club’s hands. It is 100% true and it is about having talks about the future. It is really all fine. Mo is a very important player for me obviously but this story around is not.”
Latest comments on Salah will concern Liverpool
Despite that from Klopp, this comments will be concerning.
Talking to beIN Sports the former striker had this to say about Salah’s current situation at Anfield.
“I called Salah about his situation at Liverpool and he is upset, but that would never affect his performance on the field,” Aboutrika said. “I know that Salah is not happy in Liverpool, he told me the reasons why he is not happy but they are secrets and I cannot talk about it in public. One of the reasons that made Salah angry was that he was not the captain against Midtjylland.”
Aboutrika then went on to say that he believes Liverpool want to sell Salah to cash in on him while he is in his prime.
“If Salah was a player at Real Madrid or Barcelona, and playing at the same level as Liverpool, he would’ve won the Ballon d’Or, and it is normal for a Spanish newspaper to ask Salah about Real Madrid and Barcelona. In my opinion, Liverpool are considering selling Salah for economic purposes. I do not have any influence over Salah’s decisions, he is my friend and brother, and he is smart enough to know what is best for him.”
Klopp has said he is ‘fine’ with Salah’s comments, but this is all getting a little more serious now. Salah does seem to have a bit of an edge to his personality, as we’ve seen from a few disagreements with teammates and not being happy about being subbed off. Liverpool sold Phillipe Coutinho for big bucks and used the money wisely, and perhaps they are looking to sell Salah this summer to fuel their next rebuild under Klopp?
Salah has a contract until 2023 at Liverpool, but there seems to be a lot of talk and the deeper you dig, the more it starts to make sense.
Bissouma to Manchester United? Liverpool and Arsenal also want Brighton star
A report from the Daily Express claims that Yves Bissouma to Manchester United could happen, as the Malian midfielder has been in sensational form for the Seagulls.
Bissouma, 24, has previously been linked with a move to Arsenal, but this report suggests that Manchester United and Liverpool also want the silky holding midfielder.
According to his agent, Michael N’Cho, there are six clubs who want to sign Bissouma (Monaco and two La Liga clubs are also interested) who is valued at $46 million but Brighton. He arrived from Lille in 2018 for $20 million and has been pretty much a regular since then, and has a contract at Brighton until 2023.
Per the report, Manchester United want a box-to-box midfielder to replace Paul Pogba (as he looks to be moving on), while Nemanja Matic is also coming towards the end of his career. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has wanted a holding midfielder for quite some time, but Liverpool are also said to be keen as they look like losing Georginio Wijnaldum on a free transfer next summer.
Bissouma has a knack for scoring superb goals from long-range, but what is most impressive about his play is how often he wins the ball back and how composed he is when gets on the ball.