Ian Doyle, chief writer for the Liverpool Echo, has made the bizarre claim that PIF are purposefully targeting Mo Salah to unsettle the star winger and give an advantage to Newcastle.
As Saudi side Al-Ittihad prepare a £200m mega-bid, Doyle said – ‘The ownership links between Newcastle and the Saudi Pro League leave PIF open to accusations of disruptive self-interest by trying to sign so many #LFC players. More stringent regulation of multi-club ownership would prevent PIF sporting integrity being questioned in this manner.‘
For a respected journalist, this is just an embarrassing argument – there are a whole number of reason as to why Salah would be a monumental capture for a Saudi club, but disrupting Liverpool’s season to aid Newcastle is not one of them.
The 31-year-old is nearing the end of his prime and to receive a staggering fee like £200m is surely too good to turn down for the Reds, it would benefit their future spending massively and offer a huge boost from an FFP perspective.
It’s quite ironic that we didn’t hear this argument when the PIF were helping Chelsea to recoup significant amounts of money for their deadwood, or when they came in with large fees for Jordan Henderson and Fabinho; two players Liverpool fans waved off when Saudi clubs came calling.
And if the PIF, who own Newcastle and four Saudi clubs, were so hellbent on drastically improving our chances in the Premier League, then why not sign some of our deadwood for overly inflated fees?
Instead, we received a meagre just over £20m for Allan Saint-Maximin, almost half the price of Harvey Barnes and a fee which many felt was way under his value.
It’s one thing for fans to make wild accusations with no real substance to their arguments or research to back their point, but for someone high up in the media to make these claims feels pretty unprofessional and frustrating for Toon fans.
There’s some Saudi agendas that we can’t ignore, but this is self-absorbed nonsense.
Something in the water in Liverpool I reckon.
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