The inside story of Mohamed Salah’s £50m contract turnaround: How flights to Dubai solved ‘more out than in’ drama – and what he and his agent really thought of Saudi interest

It is about 8.30am on Friday morning and this reporter’s temper is shortening.

The week had dragged on, with the phone pinging non-stop in the 24 hours before and after Mail Sport were first to report that Mohamed Salah had reached an agreement to stay at Liverpool.

Fun but stressful. So the roadworks on the approach into Kirkby did not help. Nor did the fact we were in the wrong lane. Until a kind gentleman, in a car much nicer than ours wearing fancy shades with the windows down, invited us to the correct lane.

A cordial wave of appreciation and quick check in the mirrors later, it became apparent the driver was Arne Slot. Any doubts about that were soon eradicated when a pair of blokes working on the roadworks, sporting high-visibility vests, started singing in the car’s direction.

‘We’re gonna win the league,’ they chanted, to which Slot gave a beaming smile and wave in return.

Slot is a jovial chap at the best of times but on this particular morning, he had added reason to be showing the whites of his teeth in happiness. A couple of minutes earlier, Liverpool had confirmed that their best player, Salah, was here to stay.

He is set to bank at least £50million over the duration of his renewed two-year contract

Arne Slot was in good spirits on Friday morning, as were many Liverpool fans hearing the news

The sun was beaming down on Merseyside and Friday was going to be a good day after all.

Slot, of course, knew about it long before the 8am official announcement, but Liverpool fans around the world were waking up to what many would describe as the best news of the season.

Some were in the watering holes first thing to toast to Salah, while many fans would have celebrated deep into Friday night. It was the talk of offices and building sites, the sort of news that would have worried those at the HQs of Liverpool’s rivals.

Salah staying may have seemed obvious for some time now but for a long while, it certainly was not a foregone conclusion.

Standing in the rain outside Southampton’s St Mary’s Stadium in November, Mail Sport was among a very limited number of journalists who Salah sought out to tell of his annoyance at the club. ‘I am more out than in,’ said the Egyptian, adding that he was disappointed at the club.

That led to a bit of a meltdown in the fanbase. Fingers were pointed at the owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), and new sporting director Richard Hughes who inherited an incredibly tricky position of having his best three players out of contract.

‘FSG, he fires a bow, now give Mo his dough’ is a banner that has been ever-present in the Kop in 2025.

Then there were whispers about interest from the Saudi Pro League to sign Salah. Whispers soon became shouts and it is true that the Saudis made him their dream target and made an almighty push to convince him to join them.

Salah set alarm bells ringing among fans when he declared he was ‘more out than in’ last year

There were also concerns about Saudi Arabian clubs, who could offer a lot more money, though Salah never wanted to move there

Credit must go to Richard Hughes, who flew out to Dubai to meet Salah’s agent multiple times

Salah, and his long-term ally Ramy Abbas, never gave that idea any serious consideration. But the Saudi conundrum was a problem for Hughes and Liverpool. Even if Salah did not want to go there, it was a negotiating tactic.

Credit here must go to Hughes, who flew out to Dubai, where Abbas is based, several times. After joining from Bournemouth last summer, the sporting director walked into a club with no manager, no backroom staff and the core of the team out of contract.

It was Hughes that earmarked Slot as the No 1 candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp and persuaded him to do so over a lengthy chat in the Dutchman’s Zwolle home last year. And now, he has successfully led negotiations to convince Salah and Virgil van Dijk to stay.

All sorts of wild claims were made between Salah’s ‘more out than in’ comment to now, when Liverpool cleverly confirmed the deal with the words ‘more in than out’.

Many suggested Liverpool asked Salah to take a pay-cut. That never happened. Some said the Saudis were confident of getting him. Maybe so, but any confidence was based on fictitious beliefs.

For all the negative outside noise around the saga, those inside the building have remained calm. Salah wanted to stay, Liverpool wanted him to stay. Yes, it has dragged on more than desired but these things are complex and take time.

For example, Liverpool could not just get the cheque-book out and pass Salah a pen to write whatever numbers he fancied. This contract had to be in keeping with their principles, the money involved had to still allow them to attack the summer transfer market.

Salah’s young family are settled in the north west and that was influential in his decision

His wife Magi, and daughters Makka (left) and Kayan (right) like Liverpool – his kids are often spotted running around the Anfield corridors

Virgil van Dijk is expected to follow suit and says there has been ‘progress’ towards a deal

Fans noticed him wearing a Richard Mille RM 17-02 Tourbillon Titanium watch worth £725,000 – loose change when you’re on his money!  

Over the course of his two-year contract, Salah is set to pocket at the very least £50million, or £25m a season, with many add-ons and bonuses making it hard to put a definite figure on his weekly take-home.

Whatever that figure works out at, it is not as much as the Saudis were willing to cough up.

Salah stayed because he loves the club and he loves his life here. He keeps a low-profile outside of football but his family, wife Magi and daughters Makka and Kayan, are settled in the north west and were influential in his decision to stay on.

His daughters are often spotted running around the corridors at Anfield like they own the place. In many respects, their dad does – he is Liverpool royalty. The word ‘legend’ is overused in football but the so-called Egyptian King is one of the greatest this storied club has ever seen.

The same goes for Van Dijk, who as Mail Sport reported on Wednesday is also closing in on signing his new deal. That is now a ‘when’ not ‘if’ scenario, though Liverpool’s media team might need a rest after the fabulous production work of the Salah announcement.

They snuck around Anfield after sundown to take the spectacular snaps. He was pictured wearing a plush Richard Mille wrist-watch, worth around £750,000. That’s like loose change for Salah, to be fair.

There were murmurs that something was going on at Anfield but there has been a melee of fans online wondering if there was an announcement pending every time Salah has been spotted anywhere in official club gear in the last few months.

This time, at last, it was for real. And it created a huge buzz around the building with Salah the only topic on everyone’s lips. Slot, who will celebrate by watching The Masters golf, had to jokingly remind reporters ‘we are playing West Ham on Sunday, by the way’.

One young player who has featured for the first team several times was heard asking ‘Virgil next?’, a question the fans also immediately turned to. Soon, folks, soon.

Van Dijk’s day will come very soon. Friday was all about Liverpool’s Egyptian King and how at long last, Mo got his dough.