Mohamed Salah has been sensational in his debut season for Liverpool and has helped Jurgen Klopp’s side seal a berth in the Champions League final, where they will face Real Madrid in Kiev.
The Egyptian international has scored 42 goals and registered 13 assists in all competitions for the Merseyside club. It is no surprise that his form will attract interest from top clubs across Europe.
AS now reports Real Madrid have set their sights on signing Salah in the summer transfer window, and Fekir potentially moving to Anfield is seen as a sign. A few months ago, Liverpool were trying to protect the player so that they do not lose another prized asset in less than a year.
Philippe Coutinho left Anfield and made a switch to Barcelona in January. Losing Salah in 2018 would be a big blow, but the Premier League club are aware that a potential buyer needs to spend big to convince them to sanction his sale.
According to the report, any approach from Real for the former AS Roma star would cost them €200m. The price tag “would not be a problem” for Florentino Pérez, who has set his sights on “cleaning” the current squad.
Zinedine Zidane has Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Garteh Bale and Lucas Vazquez as options upfront. The France international striker and the former Tottenham Hotspur star are walking on a “tightrope” after a poor season and Madrid could allow one of the players to leave in the summer.
Should one of Bale or Benzema leave Real, then Salah can fill in either of the positions. He can play as a false nine or on the right side of the attack, which is his current position at Liverpool.
The same report also claims Liverpool have already ‘tied’ Nabil Fekir as Salah’s replacement. If the reports from France and England are to be believed, Liverpool have closed his transfer with Lyon for €70m, beating the likes of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid in the process.
But Fekir would surely be a Coutinho replacement, and not a Salah one. So whilst the move for the Lyon player is seen in Spain as a clue about a Salah transfer, it probably isn’t
