Mohamed Salah's Potential Move to Saudi Arabia: Conditions Revealed

Mohamed Salah has signalled his willingness to head to Saudi Arabia – but only on his terms. Three of them, in fact. And as the Liverpool legend plots the final major move of his career, his closest ally, Dejan Lovren, has lit the fuse under an already combustible debate over how and why his Anfield story ended.

This is not a quiet exit. It was never going to be.

Salah says yes to Saudi – with strings attached

Salah’s departure was confirmed weeks ago, the curtain finally dropping on a nine-year spell that reshaped Liverpool’s modern history. He leaves a year before the end of his £400,000-per-week deal, after a season that unravelled both on the pitch and behind the scenes.

Liverpool endured a miserable campaign, scraping to fifth and paying for it with Arne Slot’s job. Salah’s relationship with the Dutchman deteriorated badly. Lovren now claims that if Slot had been removed earlier, the 33-year-old would have stayed.

That possibility has gone. The chapter is closed. Attention has turned to where Salah plays next.

Saudi Arabia has never been far from the conversation. For months, clubs in the Saudi Pro League have circled, convinced that sooner or later they would land one of the global faces of the sport. According to strong reports from Saudi outlet Marebpress, Salah has now “granted approval” to a move to the Middle East.

But only if three conditions are met.

The report states that Salah already has an offer on the table from a Saudi club. The problem? The financial package comes in below the eye-watering proposal he received before he renewed with Liverpool.

Previous indications suggested any Saudi deal for Salah would be on a historic scale: one of the biggest contracts in sport, bolstered by an ambassadorial role to help drive the league and the country’s football project.

Salah’s stance is clear. He wants an annual salary and financial benefits that reflect his status and marketing power. He also wants security: a contract of two or three years to anchor the next phase of his career.

Then comes the sporting demand. The Egyptian will only join a club with a serious project – one built to compete for major trophies, not simply make up the numbers. No farewell tour, no semi-retirement. If he goes, he goes to win.

Lovren vs Carragher: the war over Salah’s legacy

While Salah’s future edges towards Saudi Arabia, the fallout from his Liverpool exit is getting louder.

Many supporters wanted him to see out his deal until 2027, to give Anfield three more years of the player who dragged them through some of their greatest modern nights. The club has moved on, targeting a replacement – with Yan Diomande viewed as their leading option – but the arguments over Salah’s treatment are nowhere near settled.

Into that space has stepped Dejan Lovren, Salah’s closest friend in the game and a former Liverpool defender who rarely bites his tongue.

Speaking to Winwin, Lovren launched a fierce defence of Salah and a pointed attack on some of the voices who have criticised him this season, singling out Jamie Carragher.

“The way they treated him this season is not harsh. It’s disgusting,” Lovren 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.”

He believes some pundits are playing to the cameras.

“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.”

Lovren did not stop there. For him, Salah’s departure stems from one relationship in particular.

“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 argued, Salah found trust and mutual respect.

“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.”

Lovren also turned the spotlight on the dressing room.

“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 said. “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.”

A giant at a crossroads

So Salah waits. Saudi money is there, but it must meet his value. The project must match his ambition. At 33, he is too big, too driven, to drift into the background.

Liverpool, meanwhile, try to move on from a legend while former players accuse the club and its pundit royalty of failing him when he needed them most.

The goals and trophies are already in the record books. The real question now is where the next chapter of Mohamed Salah’s career will be written – and who, in the end, will feel they let him go too soon.