Hughes to meet with Salah agent as top Liverpool source predicts win-win exit | OneFootball

Richard Hughes is poised to meet with the agent of Mohamed Salah for showdown talks that will determine the Egyptian’s fate at Liverpool, and one top source has predicted when an exit will be finalised.

The future of Salah at Liverpool became a huge talking point earlier this month when the winger delivered a series of explosive claims upon being benched for a third successive game.

Salah subsequently apologised to his teammates before departing for AFCON, and also returned to Liverpool’s matchday squad for the clash with Brighton after a one-match omission against Inter Milan.

Talks between Salah and Slot have lowered the temperature, though there are still issues to resolve. Indeed, we’ve been reliably informed Salah has NO INTENTION of accepting a squad role at Anfield.

According to the latest from The Daily Mail’s Merseyside correspondent, Lewis Steele, upcoming talks will go a long way to determining the direction of travel.

Liverpool’s sporting director Richard Hughes is primed to meet with Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa. As is always the way with Issa, the meeting will be face-to-face, with the agent refusing to discuss high-level matters over the phone or in video calls.

The meeting will take place while Salah is with Egypt at AFCON, and given it’ll take place in person, it means Salah will not be present or have real-time input.

In the event it’s determined Salah must go, a move to Saudi Arabia is anticipated, though according to Steele, the expectation is Salah will NOT leave Liverpool in January.

Offering his prediction on what the outcome of the meeting will be, Steele strongly hinted Salah will see out the season at Liverpool before being sold in the summer.

Steele – who is currently in Morocco covering AFCON – wrote: “Plenty here in Africa have suggested the tensions are far from over and Saudi Arabian clubs remain on red alert ready to pounce should they get any sniff that Salah wants out of Liverpool.

“January is unlikely but a move in the summer, many believe, will be something to keep an eye on.”

Summer exit would be win-win for all

Selling Salah in the summer would allow Liverpool to collect a sizeable fee for a player who’ll have just turned 34.

At that age, and if this season’s poor form is a sign of decline and not merely a blip, Salah would struggle to justify being a guaranteed starter at Anfield any longer.

A sale would rid Liverpool of the inevitable blowback from Salah if and when he’s benched. It would also allow Salah to continue being a regular starter elsewhere, which he certainly would be in Saudi Arabia.

Furthermore, Liverpool would remove Salah’s hefty £400,000-a-week wages off the books.

Of course, a summer sale would also mean Liverpool get to retain Salah’s services for the remainder of the current campaign.

And with Alexander Isak facing up to three months out with a fractured leg and ankle injury, Slot needs all the goals and attacking wizardry he can get to ensure Liverpool’s underwhelming season can be salvaged.

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In other news, Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi has no agreement in place with any club about his future – and while sources confirm Liverpool do retain a serious interest – there is one European giant who the Reds need to take seriously in the hotly contested transfer race.

Elsewhere, Liverpool are being urged to bring in a striker to Anfield as temporary cover for Isak with the Swede facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and their fans are adamant they have found the perfect answer after a major transfer domino fell into place.

Finally, Slot has told Aston Villa that Liverpool have absolutely ZERO intention of entering talks to bring Harvey Elliott back to Liverpool in January.

That leaves Elliott – who never even makes Villa’s matchday squads – stuck in limbo given Villa don’t want to play Elliott enough times to trigger the £35m obligation to buy in their loan deal.