Latest transfer news from Newsnow Liverpool as the Reds reportedly in talks with rival clubs over Saudi fee issues.
What’s the Latest News Involving Liverpool?
According to reports, European football clubs are pushing FIFA to enact fresh rules designed to protect the integrity of the players transfer market.
Many European football clubs, including Liverpool, have spoken out in pushing FIFA to creating regulation that would ensure the payment of their cash from deals involving player departures for Saudi Arabia.
The summer transfer market has been characterised by the sizable financial incentives offered to entice top European talents to the Gulf state since the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) earlier this year acquired the four most prominent clubs in the Saudi Pro League (SPL) – Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ittihad.
The Saudi government wants to make the SPL one of the top football leagues in the world, which has resulted in Saudi teams spending more than £750 million on transfers during the summer. This project is a part of a larger plan to use football to change Saudi Arabia’s perception of the world and diversify income sources outside the traditional oil and gas industries.
SPL teams have made Liverpool players a top priority this summer. For a total of £12 million, Jordan Henderson left for Al-Ettifaq, Fabinho moved to Al-Ittihad for £40 million, and Roberto Firmino joined Al-Hilal when his contract with the Reds expired at the conclusion of the previous campaign.
After the European summer transfer market closed at the beginning of this month, the Saudi transfer window was open for another seven days. Al-Ittihad made a £150 million offer for Liverpool star player Mohamed Salah but the Reds rejected it. There was persistent talk that the SPL team may make a second approach before the transfer window closed on September 7. Even while such a situation did not occur, it did cause many Liverpool fans to worry that their star player may go without a suitable successor.
Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Neves, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, and Aleksandar Mitrovic are just a few of the well-known players that demanded high transfer prices from SPL teams. N’Golo Kante and Karim Benzema, among others, joined the revolution via free transfers.
There is now a large influx of money into the selling clubs over time, with some payments having already been paid out, due to the significant amount of player transfers to Saudi clubs. The fact that some of these clubs have significant financial interests at stake as well as the fact that they are transferring talent to a league outside of Europe that is exempt from UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules, such as the “no overpayments rule,” which imposes harsh competitive sanctions on clubs that fail to make payments as agreed upon, highlight the need for more stringent security procedures when selling clubs.
11% of the fees paid to teams in Europe’s top divisions were for the SPL. Clubs are now pleading with FIFA to establish a thorough structure that offers improved protection for selling clubs, particularly in light of the fact that Saudi Arabia has grown to be a significant participant in the global player trading industry.
The Daily Telegraph reports that a number of significant European clubs want to push FIFA on this matter. During the general session of the European Clubs Association in Berlin, representatives of the famed “Big Six” of the Premier League—Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea—met to address this issue.
Transfer fees from SPL teams incurred during the summer transfer window are presently due to Liverpool in the amount of £52 million. If an SPL team expressed interest in Salah in future transfer windows, Liverpool would probably insist on FIFA regulations being passed to guarantee the payment of money due and the implementation of sanctions on teams that don’t fulfil their responsibilities. According to the article, there are worries that untimely payments might undermine the transfer system as a whole.