Salah to double wages with mooted move to Liverpool
LIVERPOOL are on the brink of making Mohamed Salah their club-record signing after he was given permission to fly in for a medical.
The Egypt international has been a priority for the Reds since last season drew to a close and talks have been going on since last month with Roma, who initially rejected a £28 million (R460m) offer for him at the start of of this month.
Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s sporting director, has continued negotiations with Monchi, his counterpart in Rome, and a deal has now been structured that with add-ons, will see Liverpool pay more than the £35m they invested in Andy Carroll in January 2011. The final fee may be closer to £40m.
Salah, who initially rejected Liverpool three years ago to join Chelsea, has agreed a deal that will nearly double his wages to £90 000 per week.
It could be that Salah, who contributed 19 assists for Roma last season after joining them for £13m, now undergoes his medical today and his arrival would give Liverpool the pace on the flank that they missed last season when Sadio Mane was absent.
Julian Brandt, the Germany international, had initially been Jurgen Klopp’s main focus for a new wide player but he opted to stay at Bayer Leverkusen and Salah will be Liverpool’s second signing of the summer following Dominic Solanke.
Virgil van Dijk, the Southampton defender, had been Klopp’s prime target for this window but Liverpool were forced to withdraw their interest after allegations of tapping up. – Daily Mail SOCHI: Rested world champions Jerome Boateng and Mesut Ozil were among the first to congratulate their potential heirs after a youthful Germany team beat Australia 3-2 in their Confederations Cup opener.
“Good job boys,” the defender Boateng tweeted, and midfielder Ozil said on the same social network: “Congrats to the whole team today.”
The praise arrived before the night flight from Sochi to Kazan where Joachim Low’s team arrived yesterday with two days to prepare for the next, more difficult, task against Copa America champions Chile.
Low had been criticised by some for leaving out a host of established players such as Boateng, Ozil, Toni Kroos, Mats Hummels, Thomas Muller and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
The coach wants the stars to get plenty of rest before next season, highlighted by a planned World Cup title defence. The absence of the established forces also gives Low a chance to test the next generation of which some could make it to the World Cup.
Monday’s match against Australia was a first indication, with Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka the big winner while Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno may have played his last game at the tournament.
The lively Goretzka was involved in the first goal scored by Lars Stindl, was brought down for a penalty converted by captain Julian Draxler and scored the third himself, his first goal for Germany.
“Leon Goretzka always digs deep, he is technically and physically strong and was very good today,” Low said in praise of the 22-year-old Goretzka.
Looking at Goretzka, Low said “you would have expected him to hold onto the ball” ahead of the second Australian goal which made the game more lively after Germany were utterly dominant in the first half. The whole camp lamented the missed chances, but everyone was happy to have collected three points.
Next up are Chile tomorrow, with Barcelona’s Marc Andre ter Stegen set to start in goals for Germany. Low is looking forward to seeing how his team will fare.
“Chile is one of the best teams in the world, technically as well as tactically. It will be good for us to see how we keep up with them over 90 minutes and see if we can match their intensity for the duration,” Low said.
Goretzka, for his part, will not be afraid as he said: “That’s what the tournament is there for, to compete with such teams.” – dpa