The Saudi Professional League has continued to be a busy destination in the transfer market this summer. The league has rapidly grown into a luxurious league by acquiring a succession of star players who have proven themselves in Europe.
The league, which has always been at the center of the transfer market, has now embarked on the acquisition of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah as the culmination of this summer’s activities.
However, the timing of the move was slow, and Liverpool, unable to secure a successor, refused to budge from their huge offer, and in the end, the transfer never materialized. Nevertheless, Al-Ittihad has not given up, and is expected to try to acquire him next January or next summer.
Michael Emenalo, director of soccer in the Saudi Professional League, which has become the No. 1 league in Asia using its ample financial resources, expressed his admiration for the Egyptian winger and did not rule out a future approach.
“Mo is someone I consider almost like a son, he’s a player that I admire and a human being that I absolutely adore.”
“But the Saudi Pro League is not about capturing headlines, it’s about putting in processes and doing things properly and the feeling is that at this moment in time a deal was not aligned.”
“We said we would do things correctly and as you have seen Mo Salah remained at Liverpool.”
“I remember when I was just about to join Monaco and a certain player [Kylian Mbappe] I would have loved to keep was sold for 168million, it didn’t seem disruptive and there wasn’t all this opera.”
“The rumours are never close to the fact and I think what you’re expressing isn’t even close to what it was. I think I will leave the negotiations to where it should belong.”
“I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we will do what is right for the SPL and take it one solution at a time.”
talkSPORT