Mohamed Salah's Saudi transfer saga begins! Liverpool star in talks with Pro League giants over summer move after shift in stance

Salah was arguably Liverpool's key performer as they stormed to the Premier League title in Arne Slot's debut campaign as manager at Anfield. The Egypt international scored 29 goals in England's top flight last year - the most since his first season on Merseyside back in 2017-18 - on top of 18 assists, but he has been far less prolific this time around.

After signing a contract extension in April, Salah has scored just four Premier League goals this season, but that return hasn't diminished interest from Saudi Arabia. Foot Mercato report that negotiations between Salah and Al-Ittihad have started and that there is more optimism this year that a deal will be agreed than there was 12 months ago. The 33-year-old is now thought to be more open about moving to the Middle East, where he would probably become the biggest star in the league despite the presence of the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane.

Al-Ittihad, who are one of four clubs directly owned by PIF, have endured a shocking title defence this year. The reigning champions are down in seventh this time around, 16 points behind current leaders Al-Hilal after 20 games played. The club also suffered greatly during the January transfer window with two of their most important players leaving for pastures new.

Star striker Karim Benzema secured a move to Al-Hilal and is now bidding to win a second Pro League title on the trot, while midfielder N'Golo Kante has returned to Europe to play for Fenerbahce in Turkey. Al-Ittihad's squad is now depleted, with Fabinho, Moussa Diaby, Houssem Aouar and new arrival Youssef En-Nesyri their most recognisable names.

News of Al-Ittihad's interest is no surprise given they reportedly identified Salah as their ideal replacement for Benzema last week.

Salah's lack of form earlier in the campaign led to manager Slot dropping him from his regular starting XI. After spending three games on the bench, Salah hit out at Liverpool in December, claiming he had been "thrown under the bus", saying his relationship with Slot had broken down and that he was being unfairly blamed for the Reds' inconsistent results.

The forward left for the Africa Cup of Nations shortly after but has been reintegrated into Slot's regular team in recent weeks, being included in the starting XI in his five matches since returning from international duty. He has scored once in that time, striking in the 6-0 thumping of Qarabag in the Champions League.

While Salah's future is bound to be a story which is heavily covered between now and the end of the season, Slot and the rest of his Liverpool squad have to remain focused on what has become a tense and nail-biting race for Champions League qualification.

The Reds have fallen out of the top four thanks to a run of just one win in seven Premier League games - a streak that started with four consecutive draws before defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City - and are now five points behind Manchester United, who currently occupy fourth position. That gap could increase to eight points if United beat West Ham United on Tuesday before Liverpool travel to Sunderland on Thursday night.

Slot is already without the likes of Alexander Isak, Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley due to injury and also has to contend with Dominik Szoboszlai's one-game suspension after the Hungarian was sent off late in the defeat to City on Sunday.