AL-HILAL are ready to launch a January bid for Mo Salah after his bombshell Liverpool exit threat.
Reds great Salah, 33, launched a scathing attack on the club and manager Arne Slot following their 3-3 draw at Leeds – the third straight game he started sat on the bench.
The winger astonishingly claimed that he had been “thrown under the bus” by Slot and Liverpool bosses.
He also hinted that Brighton’s visit to Anfield on Saturday could be his final game for the club.
Salah joins up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations after the Brighton game and will not return until mid-January, when he could move to the Middle East.
Saudi Pro League recruiters have long coveted a move for the Egypt international – seen as Cristiano Ronaldo’s natural successor in the league.
MO PROBLEM
Salah branded ’embarrassing’ as favourites to sign him after outburst emerge
A number of clubs remain interested, but Al-Hilal, who signed Darwin Nunez from Anfield in the summer, are seen as the most likely to launch a move.
Any deal, however, would fall well short of what was on offer to Liverpool two years ago, when bids from the Saudi Pro League peaked at £150million.
With Salah two years older and having made his feelings about the Reds staff and board abundantly clear, Saudi clubs are confident of a cut-price deal.
The winger accused Liverpool bosses of breaking promises made when he signed a new two-year deal in the summer.
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While clubs in Saudi Arabia have cut back on spending huge figures on big names following their astonishing splurge two years ago, an exception will be made for Salah.
Recruitment is largely handled centrally, by the Player Acquisition Center of Excellence (PACE) run by ex-Chelsea director Michael Emenalo.
Sources in the Middle East say Salah is regarded in the “elite category” by PACE, with Emenalo having long had a relationship with the Kop star’s camp.
Speaking to an Egyptian broadcaster last season, Salah revealed that he had held talks with SPL clubs before renewing his Reds deal.
He told ON Sport: “My relations with SPL officials are very good, we talked a lot and the negotiations were serious.
“It was a good opportunity to me, if I hadn’t renewed with Liverpool it would have happened.”
Al-Hilal would need to move on one of their non-EU international registered players this month in order to make space for Salah.
SPL clubs are allowed to register eight non-EU international players in their squads.
