Liverpool are looking to complete a £35 million deal for Mohamed Salah this week as they prepare to reopen negotiations with Roma for the Egypt forward.
The fee matches that paid for Andy Carroll in 2011 but Salah could end up becoming Liverpool’s most expensive player, with Roma seeking additional payments depending on his progress.
The switch comes just three years after the Anfield club missed out on the attacker when they were gazumped by Chelsea in an £11 million deal. Roma paid £13 million for Salah at the start of last season as the 24-year-old severed ties with Chelsea after a series of loans.
Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, believes that a player who scored 15 goals and provided 11 assists in 31 league appearances last season will add pace, threat and creativity to his line-up. The deal will kick off a summer in which Liverpool intend to spend heavily in readiness for a return to the Champions League.
Liverpool had a £28 million bid for Salah rejected at the end of last week but plan to continue talks.
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Salah made just 19 appearances for Chelsea, scoring two goals, before going out on loan to Fiorentina and then Roma, but appears to have recovered from that bump in his career. The deal will double Salah’s wages to almost £90,000 a week.
Klopp remains confident that Virgil van Dijk, the Southampton defender, could move to Merseyside. The Holland centre back is aware of interest from Manchester City, Chelsea Manchester United and Arsenal, but Liverpool are confident that the chance to work with Klopp will prove decisive.
Klopp, however, is facing a battle to land Naby Keita, his priority midfield target, with the German club Red Bull Leipzig ruling out his departure. Keita, a Guinea player, was crucial in propelling Leipzig into the Champions League for the first time next season.
While it was felt in Germany that an offer for Keita in excess of £50 million would be considered, Ralf Rangnick, the sporting director, has publicly stated that the player will not leave. “We won’t sell one of the players. We keep the team together,” he said.
Klopp also wants a left back, although he has withdrawn his interest in Ryan Sessegnon, the Fulham teenager.