Graeme Souness believes Mohamed Salah and his brokers could also be hinting that they're open to a transfer to Al-Ittihad by not dismissing hyperlinks to the membership.

In his newest column for the Daily Mail, Souness wrote: "Make no mistake, Salah is flirting with the Saudis. Neither he nor one of his representatives has come out and categorically said, 'We do not want to go to Saudi Arabia at this time'.

"If he wished to remain, somebody might have issued a press release to that impact. He is toying with the concept, on the very least, and I believe, deep down, he'll really feel he ought to go."