Mohamed Salah could face one of his Liverpool team-mates at the Club World Cup this summer, despite the Reds not qualifying for the tournament.
While Chelsea and Manchester City will head to America this summer to compete in the 32-team tournament, Liverpool will have other matters to solve - namely, the contract situations of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk.
None of the trio have reached an agreement with the Anfield hierarchy yet despite their deals having less than three months to run, as Liverpool boss Arne slot focuses on securing the Premier League title in his debut campaign.
Mohamed Salah could play against Liverpool team-mate at Club World Cup
Though now 32, Salah is in the form of his life having already struck 27 goals and registered 17 assists in the Premier League this season. Liverpool may fear that his age and salary demands don't fit with the club's model, however, and are so far unable to reach an agreement on a new deal.
A move away from Anfield could therefore happen in the summer, with there now an opportunity to even play in the Club World Cup, a trophy he won with Liverpool in 2019 when the competition was in its original format.
According to the Telegraph, Salah "remains interested" in the offer proposed by the Saudi Pro League, with the league also confident that the Egyptian is open to a move upon the expiry of his Liverpool contract.
While the specific Saudi Pro League side Salah could join is left unnamed, it's likely that he'll move to Al Hilal, who have been left without a global superstar following the January departure of Neymar. That move would see Salah join ex-Premier League stars Kalidou Koulibaly, Ruben Neves, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Joao Cancelo in Riyadh.
Crucially, Al Hilal are involved in this summer's Club World Cup, following their 2021 Asian Champions League win. They face Real Madrid, Pachuca and Red Bull Salzburg in the group stages, meaning Salah could even come up against current Liverpool team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the right-back edging closer to a Real Madrid swap at the end of this season.
The report does suggest that it's unlikely Salah would complete a move to Al Hilal before the end of his Liverpool contract on July 1, though that doesn't completely rule out an on-pitch reunion between the pair.
With the quarter-finals starting on July 4, Salah would have a few days to prepare with his new team-mates before getting involved in the action if Al Hilal have managed to progress that far, while there's also potential they could meet Real Madrid in the tournament once more, in the final.
In FourFourTwo's view, with each passing week it seems more and more likely that Salah might reluctantly leave Liverpool. An agreement is clearly becoming difficult to reach between both parties, while the offer on the table from Saudi Arabia is certainly lucrative.
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