Arne Slot has encouraged Mohamed Salah to sign a new contract with Liverpool, advising the Egyptian forward to resist a move to Saudi Arabia despite the financial lure.
Salah has been in exceptional form this season but is set to be out of contract in June, with ongoing speculation linking him to a potential transfer to the Saudi Pro League.
In an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored’s YouTube channel on Thursday, Saudi sports minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal was asked if Salah was the “big prize” the country was targeting.
“Definitely, because if he ticks all the right boxes, even for us, we’d love to have him,” the sports minister said.
“We feel like we are one with the Egyptians, from our culture and our history and so on.”
The 32-year-old Salah, who tops the Premier League goalscoring charts with 19 goals this season, said at the end of December he was still “far away” from reaching an agreement over a new deal at Anfield.
Liverpool manager Slot reiterated at his pre-match press conference on Friday that the club want to keep hold of their talismanic striker, who joined the club in 2017.
“We want him to extend, of course, as well,” he said. “That is clear, but I’m not surprised that Saudi wants him, I’m also not surprised if other countries want him as well.
“He’s old and wise enough, he’s done so many smart things in his career that he will make the right decision for himself and hopefully for us as well.”
Referring to the Saudi links, the Dutchman added: “He’s done so well without my advice for a long time, so he can probably keep doing what is best for his career, even without my advice.
“But my advice to him would be different from the one you just mentioned.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold are also set to be out of contract at the end of the season, creating a potential dilemma for the Premier League leaders.
Slot, whose team will face a tough Bournemouth side on Saturday, acknowledged that it “would be ridiculous” not to discuss the future with his players. However, he declined to comment on the progress of ongoing contract negotiations.
