‘Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk coming to join me in Saudi Arabia? I don’t know - it’s not my problem!’ Former Liverpool star teases his ex-Anfield team-mates leaving Merseyside
One of the Liverpool duo's former Anfield pals has been asked about their potential move to the Saudi Pro League
Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all out of contract at the end of the current campaign, and there’s been much speculation about whether they’ll sign new deals to stay at Anfield.
Alexander-Arnold has been strongly rumoured to be interesting Real Madrid, while Salah and Van Dijk have also both been linked with a move away from Liverpool.
The Saudi Pro League has been talked about as a potential destination for those two, particularly after interest in Salah from the league a year ago.
Liverpool's former star Fabinho has his say
Several Liverpool players have made the move to Saudi Arabia in recent times. Sadio Mane is now playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, while Jordan Henderson had a spell with Al Ettifaq, before returning to Europe with Ajax.
Brazilian duo Fabinho and Roberto Firmino both headed to Jeddah, where they look likely to line up on opposite sides of the city’s big derby match on Thursday night when Al Ittihad host Al Ahli.
FourFourTwo is in Saudi Arabia for the match and was present at today’s pre-match media event, when Fabinho spoke to the press.
The 31-year-old has been watching his old club from afar, and has been happy to see Liverpool doing so well this season under new boss Arne Slot.
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“For me it’s normal because Liverpool have one of the best teams in the Premier League and in Europe, so it’s not a surprise for me how well they’re doing at the moment, I think they have everything to fight with Manchester City,” he said.
“Unfortunately Man City are still the team to beat, but Arne Slot is doing a very good job, I really hope Liverpool will keep this run until the end of the season and hopefully bring some important trophies this season.”
Fabinho was also asked his thoughts on both Salah and Van Dijk being linked with a move to join him in Saudi Arabia - he insisted he hadn’t been lobbying them on the issue.
“I haven’t talked to them lately and to be honest I didn’t see any news about them coming to the Saudi League or leaving Liverpool,” he said.
“I know that some players like Mo, Virgil and Trent are at the end of their contract, and I think Liverpool are desperate to get them a new contract, but it’s not my problem any more!”
Chris joined FourFourTwo in 2015 and has reported from 20 countries, in places as varied as Jerusalem and the Arctic Circle. He's interviewed Pele, Zlatan and Santa Claus (it's a long story), as well as covering the World Cup, Euro 2020 and the Clasico. He previously spent 10 years as a newspaper journalist, and completed the 92 in 2017.