The English transfer window may be closed, but rumours continue to swirl around Mohamed Salah in particular with Saudi Pro League clubs still able to sign players until Thursday.
Liverpool are understood to have swiftly rejected a bid of up to £150m for their Egyptian king on deadline day, and manager Jurgen Klopp has publicly shut down any talk of the forward leaving this summer on numerous occasions.
However, the speculation refuses to go away, with the latest reports suggesting that Al-Ittihad are planning to test Liverpool's resolve again with a £200m offer before their deadline.
Such a fee would make Salah the most expensive player of all time - surpassing the £197m Paris Saint-Germain paid for Neymar in 2017 - but would leave Liverpool without a player who has been their top-scorer in all six of his seasons at the club, and without the ability to spend that money on replacements until January at the earliest.
Here, the Sports Mole team discuss whether or not the six-time champions of Europe should accept a £200m offer for their star man.
Barney Corkhill, Editor
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Had the Saudi Pro League interest in Salah come about four or five weeks ago, I suspect this would be an entirely different conversation for Liverpool's owners, and even for Jurgen Klopp.
Of course, Salah's standing in the team has not changed during that time - he has been integral to Klopp's side and one of the first names on the teamsheet ever since his arrival in 2017 - but crucially Liverpool no longer have the ability to replace him until January at the earliest.
The Reds do already boast a wider array of attacking talent than most teams in the league - to the extent that two of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota are likely to start on the bench most weeks - but Salah remains the jewel in that crown.
A world-record £200m fee is mind-boggling; Liverpool will never be offered more money for him, and I completely understand the argument that he is 31 years old and in the penultimate year of his contract.
However, with the way transfer fees are continually going up, and no sign of the Saudi spending fizzling out anytime soon, I suspect Liverpool could hold out this summer and still receive a nine-figure offer next year - possibly up to £150m - especially if Salah has another good season, which seems to be a fairly safe bet when it comes to him.
The changes to the Champions League from next season means that an extra space could open up for a Premier League team, but the battle for those qualification places is fiercer than ever - Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Liverpool will all fancy their chances, and the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion and Aston Villa shouldn't be counted out of the conversation either.
Therefore, in my opinion Liverpool should hold on to Salah this summer at all costs, and do the same in January if there are fresh approaches then too. They would surely take a £50m reduction in the transfer fee if it was the difference between qualifying for next season's Champions League or not, and Salah's importance to the team could be that great.
From the player's point of view too, he looks likely to have a good few years left at the very top, so he may want to continue challenging himself at the elite level rather than going to Saudi Arabia at the relatively young age of 31.
Salah eventually moving to Saudi Arabia seems like an inevitability, and he would likely be a star that outshines even Cristiano Ronaldo given his importance culturally to the Arab world, so Liverpool can afford to play hardball, keep him this summer and still demand a huge fee next year. The amount itself may be as high as it will get, but it doesn't feel like now or never, take-it-or-leave-it for a mega-money deal to be struck right now.
The alternative - to sell him in the coming days - would leave them down one of their greatest ever players and without any prospect of replacing him or strengthening their squad elsewhere. Not only that, but they lose another leader from a team that has already seen Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Fabinho depart this summer.
A figure like £200m is one no team would ever sniff at, but for a club not desperate for money, that cash would have very little benefit sat in the bank until January at the earliest, and likely until next summer before Klopp could land any top targets.
Darren Plant, Senior Reporter
Even when a fee of £150m was being mentioned for a 31-year-old in the final two years of his contract, a sale felt a no-brainer, providing that Salah himself wanted to make the transfer at this stage of his career.
Now that we have reached a stage where a fee of £200m or more is becoming a possibility, how can Liverpool say no? Sure, it would hinder their hopes of winning the Premier League title this season, but Liverpool have the attacking quality to finish in the top four - which has to be their more realistic aim this season - with or without Salah.
Of course, a transfer is not black and white, but when there is an inevitability of Salah moving to Saudi Arabia anyway - regardless of whether it is now, January or next summer - Liverpool should be looking to maximise the fee that they receive and listen to the wishes of Salah. He deserves that level of respect.
Do I think that Salah will leave Liverpool in the coming days? No. However, Liverpool need to strip any ego or concern over short-term detrimental effects from their decision-making. That money would pay for a backup right-back, new centre-back and alternative - not replacement because you cannot replace him - for Salah and still be in profit and better placed to dethrone Manchester City or whoever in 2024-25.
Oliver Thomas, Senior Reporter
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Having etched his name into Liverpool folklore during his legendary seven-year spell at Anfield, winning every domestic honour as well as the Champions League, and breaking numerous goalscoring records, Mohamed Salah must weigh up whether now is the right time to seek pastures new and head to Saudi Arabia or commit to Jurgen Klopp's side for at least another year.
Liverpool and Klopp have made it clear that they do not wish to sell Salah, but if the player is keen on a move to the Middle East and if the Reds receive a bid of at least £200m – a world-record fee – for the 31-year-old, then they would be foolish not to accept it.
The timing of the offer could not have come at a worse time for Liverpool, just a few days after the English transfer window has closed, but the Reds will never receive a better offer than this for the Egyptian.
Replacing Salah would be nigh-on impossible, but there are a number of top quality attackers out there who Liverpool could look to target such as Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Juventus' Federico Chiesa, Barcelona's Raphinha and Real Madrid's Rodrygo – a cheeky move for Arsenal's Bukayo Saka could also be considered.
Joel Lefevre, Reporter
If I was Jurgen Klopp, I would do everything I could to stop the club from selling Mohamed Salah.
The Egyptian has been the model of consistency for Liverpool season after season, and even at 31, his speed, dribbling and clinical finishing would be sorely missed should the club sell him.
It is not just his technical qualities on the field that would be missed, though, as his veteran leadership is something that I believe would go a long way to elevating youngsters like Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez from great players to elite ones.
Liverpool have proven in the past that they can consistently compete with Man City and the other top teams in the Premier League, and while selling your most significant asset makes you a richer club, you are throwing away a chance at lifting multiple trophies every season for the foreseeable future if you choose to let Salah go.
Andrew Delaney, Reporter
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Yes, despite still arguably being Liverpool's best player that sort of money for a 31-year-old is an offer you cannot refuse.
£200m could go towards buying three, four or five top quality players that could have Liverpool challenging at the top of the Premier League again.
A replacement for Salah would be needed, but after that Liverpool could still sign a world-class central defender and central midfielder in January with the leftover money, two of the areas which were most problematic last season.
Devesh Jaganath, Reporter
Yes! While Salah is a crucial part of Klopp's setup, cashing in £200m for a 31-year-old should be a no-brainer.
From a neutral perspective - is Salah going to win Liverpool the Premier League this year? Probably not. Plus, there is no Champions League football at Anfield this season either.
Those funds could bring in marquee players in the next transfer window, similar to when they let Coutinho go to fund the purchase of Alisson and Van Dijk, which took them to the next level after years of underperformance.
Barney Corkhill
