Al Ittihad are prepared to break the world transfer record for Mohamed Salah after seeing a £150m bid rejected by Liverpool, 90min understands.
Salah is the Saudi league's top target and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) are determined to lure the Egypt international over to the Middle East before their transfer window closes later this month.
Liverpool have repeatedly stressed that Salah is not for sale this summer, with manager Jurgen Klopp using Friday's press conference to insist any interest would be rejected.
Sources have confirmed to 90min that Liverpool have stuck to their word and turned down a huge offer from Al Ittihad which was worth £150m including all add-ons, making it clear in the process that he is not for sale this summer.
But PIF have not accepted defeat and sources have instead confirmed to 90min that Al Ittihad are prepared to increase their offer, breaking the world transfer record - Neymar's €222m (£200m at the time) move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 - if needs be in order to convince Liverpool to sell.
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90min understands that Salah is interested in making the move to Al Ittihad, who have already signed N'Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and former Liverpool team-mate Fabinho this summer, and believe a deal can be reached.
An agreement is understood to have been reached in principle over personal terms, with Salah standing to become the highest-earning footballer on the planet if he does end up joining Al Ittihad.
While Liverpool must complete their transfer business by 23:00 (BST), the Saudi transfer window does not close until later this month. FIFA's calendar states the Saudi window closes on 20 September but the league itself claim the deadline will come on 7 September, giving Al Ittihad plenty of time to pursue a deal for Salah.
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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth and Graeme Bailey to discuss whether Mohamed Salah could actually join Al Ittihad from Liverpool, Bayern Munich's hunt of Fulham midfielder Joao Palhinha, the ongoing Sofyan Amrabat to Man Utd saga & more!
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This article was originally published on 90min as Mohamed Salah: Al Ittihad prepared to break transfer record after rejected £150m bid.