Paul Merson believes Liverpool can use interest in Mohamed Salah to their advantage (Picture: Sky Sports)
Paul Merson believes Liverpool should cash in on Mohamed Salah before ‘rocking the boat with Arsenal’ and launching a January bid to sign Bukayo Saka.
While the Premier League transfer window closed on Friday night, Salah’s suitors in Saudi Arabia are still permitted to buy players up until September 7.
Al-Ittihad saw an offer in the region of £150million rejected immediately by Liverpool on Thursday night but are preparing to go as high as £200m in order to secure the 31-year-old’s signing.
Jurgen Klopp maintains that Salah is not for sale and remains fully committed to the Merseyside club, but Merson believes a major cash injection would provide the Liverpool boss with a golden opportunity to accelerate his rebuilding job.
Club stalwarts Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Jordan Henderson and Fabinho have all departed over the course of the last 12 months and all now ply their trade in the Saudi Pro League.
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Salah would, arguably, represent the hardest player to replace but Merson views Saka as the ideal replacement, despite him having committed his long-term future to his boyhood club in the summer.
‘Do they sell him for £200million and then in January see if they can get Saka from Arsenal for £150m?’ Merson told Sky Sports.
‘I’m thinking right, one person is 31 and I can get £200m who is the next one in line? Who is going to be the next big thing on the right wing.
‘The next one in line is definitely Saka, he’s the best right winger about after Salah. If you were Liverpool you’d be trading in someone who’s a bit older for someone who’s younger.
‘They should rock the boat with Arsenal and say here’s £150m for someone. What they’ve done at Liverpool at the moment is got rid of all the older midfield players and brought in all younger players.’
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‘They should rock the boat with Arsenal!’