Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool career is confirmed to be coming to an end—but his next landing spot is unlikely to be at Serie A giants Juventus, if the words of sporting director Marco Ottolini are to be believed.
Salah will leave Anfield on a free transfer this summer, despite still having one year remaining on his contract. Reports have tipped the Egyptian to return to Serie A—former employers Roma have been linked—and there have been claims that Juventus have made an approach to Salah’s representatives.
But, as with most transfer stories, there’s two versions of events. In this instance, Ottolini told 365scores: “What is being circulated about negotiations to sign Mohamed Salah to Juventus is not true. At the moment, there is nothing regarding that.”
So if it’s not Juventus next for Salah, where could it be?
Salah’s Likely Options Post-Liverpool Departure
Ottolini stressed there is not currently any contact between Juventus and Salah. Crucially, however, that does not mean there never will be.
Signing a player of Salah’s ability on a free transfer is the sort of deal that helped Juve grow a reputation as the masters of bargains, having snapped up big names like Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Kingsley Coman, Sami Khedira, Emre Can and Adrien Rabiot for free in recent years.
Unfortunately for Juve, their days at the peak of Serie A are over. While their reputation remains among Italy’s highest, the reality is the team has failed to compete for the title for several years now and may no longer appeal to elite names like Salah.
The strongest links to Salah revolve around Saudi Arabia. The Pro League has made no secret of its desire to land Salah over the past few seasons, coming agonizingly close last season before Liverpool tied the Egyptian down to an extension.
Now given a free run at his signature, the likes of Al Hilal and Al Qadsiah are expected to approach Salah with the sorts of salaries that will not be available if he chooses to remain in Europe.
Paris Saint-Germain have been named as surprise suitors, despite the fact their shift in recruitment now prioritizes younger talents over big names. There have also been rumors of interest from an increasingly ambitious Galatasaray outfit in Türkiye.
Salah is also likely to receive offers from Major League Soccer, although a move to the United States is not reported to be in his thinking at this stage.
Salah’s agent has publicly stressed that the winger does not yet know the identity of his next club, with offers set to arrive at the end of the season once he can afford to turn his focus away from Liverpool and their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mohamed Salah’s Next Move—And Why There Is ‘Nothing’ in Link to European Giants.
