Salah, Messi and Miami: The Transfer Story That Has Football Talking

The football world has had a few days to absorb the news of Mohamed Salah’s departure from Liverpool, and just as the tributes were beginning to settle, a new story has muscled its way to the front. Inter Miami, the MLS franchise co-owned by David Beckham, are reportedly willing to put together a serious offer to bring Salah to the United States. The prospect of him lining up alongside Lionel Messi in Florida is, to put it mildly, the kind of thing that would have seemed faintly absurd even five years ago.

Yet here we are.

According to a report in The Independent, Miami are prepared to enter what is shaping up to be a genuinely competitive race for Salah’s signature, going up against the considerable financial firepower of the Saudi Pro League, where Al-Hilal have long been considered the frontrunners. The Egyptian has options, and that much is abundantly clear.

There is, however, a rather significant obstacle standing between Miami and their dream signing. The club currently has no available Designated Player spots, the specific roster slots that MLS clubs must use to sign players of Salah’s profile outside the standard salary cap. To accommodate him, they would need to restructure their squad considerably before the summer window opens in earnest. That is not impossible, but it is the kind of logistical undertaking that tends to test even the most organised front offices.

Whether the football itself is enough to attract a player of Salah’s ambitions at this stage of his career is a separate question worth asking. He turns 33 this summer and has spent nine years operating at the very highest level of the European game. MLS, for all its growth, is a different proposition entirely.

Back on Merseyside, the mood inside the dressing room has been one of quiet reflection rather than shock. Many of Salah’s teammates saw this coming, even if the official confirmation still stung. Andy Robertson, who arrived at Anfield in the same window as Salah back in 2017, was among the first to put his feelings into words publicly. His tribute was warm and unambiguous, speaking of watching a friend become one of the finest players ever to wear the shirt, and of memories that would last a lifetime. It was the kind of send-off that a man who has given everything to a club fully deserves.

What few had anticipated, though, was the suggestion that Salah’s exit might only be the beginning of a far wider transformation at Liverpool. The same Independent report raises the possibility that the Saudi Pro League has its sights set not just on the player, but on the people who built the team around him. Sporting chief Michael Edwards and director Richard Hughes are both said to be on the radar of Saudi officials, with Edwards viewed as a candidate for a senior overseeing role and Hughes linked specifically to Al-Hilal.

Edwards only recently returned to Fenway Sports Group, having been brought back to help develop a broader multi-club strategy. That project has stalled somewhat after potential European acquisitions, including Bordeaux and Getafe, were assessed and deemed too expensive. Should he find himself at a crossroads professionally, Saudi Arabia may well come knocking with an offer that is difficult to refuse.

For Liverpool supporters, the idea of losing Salah, Edwards and Hughes in the same summer would represent a seismic shift in the club’s identity. These are not just employees. They are, in their different ways, the architects of one of the most successful periods in the club’s modern history.

How much of this actually comes to pass remains to be seen. Transfer windows have a way of producing far less drama than the early rumours suggest. But the Salah saga, wherever it ends, is clearly far from over.