Despite moving there himself to become manager of Al Ettifaq, Steven Gerrard believes Mo Salah should stay at Liverpool over Saudi Arabia.
Claims Salah could head to the Middle East as a lucrative target for Al-Ittihad emerged on Sunday evening, only to be shot down by the player’s agent hours later.
Despite this, there remains a belief that the 31-year-old could eventually opt to follow the likes of Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to the Saudi Pro League.
Beyond Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, Salah would arguably stand as the most iconic figure in the new state-backed league.
But in an interview with Sada Al Mala’eb, Gerrard was asked if he would like to see Liverpool’s No. 11 join him in Saudi Arabia.
“Haha, no! No, no – the answer is no,” he replied.
“Because Mohamed Salah is my favourite player, I love Liverpool Football Club, so Mohamed can stay where he is.
“When he wins more leagues and more Champions Leagues with Liverpool, we’ll maybe consider it.”
Effectively, Gerrard would not want to prompt Salah’s exit due to his importance to Liverpool – what that implies about his move for Henderson is up for debate!
During his interview, the 43-year-old was also pushed on his decision to sign Henderson, who has taken up the captaincy at Al-Ettifaq.
“I must say, everyone who’s involved in the board, obviously big respect to the minister, to the league for the support, for help in bringing Jordan Henderson here,” he said.
“He’s looking forward to the challenge. He’s still got many good years in his legs.
“We were looking for someone who can be a coach on the football pitch, someone who can lead, someone with a voice, someone who creates real, high-class, elite standards.
“We want the young players to learn and grow off Jordan.”
