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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

What Al-Ittihad's £150m Mo Salah bid knock back means for Jota

Liverpool have rejected a £150m bid for Mohamed Salah.

Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad made the eye-watering offer for the Reds hero on deadline day.

The Saudi Arabian champions have a lengthy list of global stars they wish to sign - with Salah high on it.

Sky Sports say their bid was composed of £100m up front, with a further £50m paid to Liverpool in add-ons.

However, the Premier League giants have turned down the bid. They have told Al-Ittihad that the Egyptian, 31, is not for sale.

It comes as Jota told Al-Ittihad chiefs that he's going nowhere this summer.

The Portuguese winger only joined the Saudi side in June this year. The 24-year-old signed from Celtic for a fee of around £25m.

However, things haven't gone to plan for Jota since his life-changing, big-money switch to the Middle East.

It emerged weeks ago that the Pro League side is looking to offload the tricky attacker.

Speculation has mounted that boss Nuno Espirito Santo didn't actually sign the player and that the deal was more of a club decision. 

Talk of a potential fallout between Jota and other players at the club then started, amid rumours that Al-Ittihad wanted to loan him out in order to comply with the league's rules over the number of foreign players allowed in their first team squad.

So, Al-Ittihad's pursuit of Salah could have implications for Jota.

It's said that they want to move on either Jota or Romarinho in order to free up space in the squad to sign the world-class forward.

Liverpool have stood firm on their stance so far, although the Saudi transfer window is open for longer than England's - which closes at 11pm today.

Jota has been very limited to game time under Nuno. Although, he did make his last appearance count. 

He appeared off the bench to replace the injured Karim Benzema on Monday night. He scored in his side's 3-0 win over Al-Wehda, with his goal sparking wild celebrations.

He and Benzema have seemingly formed a close bond since they both arrived at the club. The former Real Madrid star could be seen clapping Jota's goal from the subs bench.

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