A Saudi Pro League marketing chief has announced that teams in the region "must start working" on the potential signing of Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah.
The 31-year-old's future has been called into question several times over the past couple of years after he memorably refused to rule out a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona in 2021.
Both Clasico giants were thought to have been placed on red alert by Salah's admission, but the Egypt international instead committed his future to Liverpool until 2025 last summer.
Salah will soon enter the final two years of that agreement, and a move to Paris Saint-Germain has been mooted this summer, but a departure is not considered realistic at this moment in time.
Salah's agent Ramy Abbas Issa recently shot down reports claiming that his client had met with PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, having previously also rubbished "nonsense" claims of an imminent Anfield exit for the attacker.
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However, Hafez Al-Medlej - the head of the AFC Marketing Committee - has confirmed that Salah is of interest to the Saudi Pro League, although he has conceded that the Liverpool man may want to keep breaking records on Merseyside before a possible approach.
Speaking to Koura - via AS - about the notion that Saudi teams are only targeting players in the twilight of their careers, Al-Medlej said: "That speech is false. We do not hire players who are already finished.
"Al Hilal is going to sign Ruben Neves, who is 26 years old and who Barcelona wanted. And [Karim] Benzema has already arrived at Al Ittihad after being crowned the Ballon d'Or with Real Madrid, who is faced with the dilemma of replacing him.
"We are only living the beginning. All transferable footballers will from now on be targeted by Saudi clubs. In Arabia we have a state project and it will not be limited to four great teams, but to all of them. Because the passion for football of the Saudis has no limits.
"We must also start working on the signing of Mohamed Salah, since he is overwhelmingly popular in the Arab world and in Europe. I think Salah still has records to break with Liverpool, so I hope that if he doesn't come now he will in the future."
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A plethora of household names have already penned deals with Saudi Arabian clubs this summer, including Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante, whose former Chelsea teammates Hakim Ziyech, Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly are set to join him in the Middle East.
Arsenal's Thomas Partey is also thought to be wanted by multiple Saudi Pro League teams, but Salah seems set to continue in Liverpool colours on the back of a record-breaking season under Jurgen Klopp.
The former Chelsea and Roma man came up with 30 goals and 16 assists in 51 matches last season, taking his total for the Reds to 186 strikes and 79 assists in 305 outings.
Salah surpassed Robbie Fowler as Liverpool's highest Premier League scorer during their 7-0 thrashing of Manchester United, and he sits level with Steven Gerrard in fifth place in the Reds' all-time scoring charts.
A solitary goal against Brentford in May also saw Salah bring up a century of goals at Anfield, and he was one of only two players to hit double figures in goals and assists in the 2022-23 Premier League season alongside Arsenal's Bukayo Saka.
Ben Knapton
