Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has ‘already given signals’ that he would be open to a move to Barcelona, and the Catalan giants are ‘studying the viability’ of a move.
That’s according to Sport, who pick on reports about Barcelona’s interest in Salah and put their own slant on things today.
They explain that Salah has ‘emerged as a market option’ for Barcelona courtesy of his contract situation at Liverpool.
His current deal expires in 2023, and so far, there has been no progress or indication he will quickly be extending his contract at Anfield beyond that point.
That means Liverpool could be forced to sell this summer, and Sport say Salah has ‘given signals’ to Barcelona that he would be open to a move this summer if an agreement is reached with Liverpool.
Salah already spoke to the Blaugrana two years ago, according to the claims, but the deal was financially impossible at the time, so it never went through.
The situation has now changed thanks to his contract situation, and according to the newspaper, Salah’s ‘idea’ is to leave Liverpool this summer or next as he believes the ‘winning cycle’ has come to an end.
He would prefer the former if the transfer price is ‘reasonable’ and his entourage have made this clear to Barcelona, who are ‘very attentive’ to the situation as they believe it would be a ‘real coup’ for them.
They face competition from Paris Saint Germain, who would consider him as a replacement for Kylian Mbappe and could offer him a ‘much more powerful offer financially’.
Liverpool have already made the player a million-dollar renewal offer, but Salah has not responded to this as he wants to see what is put on the table from outside England.
Barcelona know of his financial demands and the fact he would be a ‘much more affordable deal’ than one for Erling Haaland, although it would depend on Liverpool’s demands.
They are ‘very hard to negotiate with’ and have set a €100m asking price for their star man, although Barcelona are thinking more in the €70m range. That figure and Salah’s salary would be ‘affordable’ on a long contract.
If they can do a deal with the Reds, they will ‘launch their offensive’, something that has not happened yet despite the ‘contacts’ with Salah’s agents to find out his terms.
