After it was revealed that a huge offer had been made to oust the Brazilian goalkeeper from Anfield, Liverpool made it quite plain that they intended to keep Becker at the club.
The Merseysiders spent the summer concentrating on rebuilding their midfield, bringing in four new players for a combined total of £145.2 million. Six players have left Anfield in that area since last season, so it appears that their ambitions to add further reinforcements to their engine room are still in progress.
Jordan Henderson and Fabinho abruptly left their positions, while the departures of James Milner, Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and loan flop Arthur Melo were planned for some time.
Indeed, neither of those two midfield stalwarts will have been on Jurgen Klopp and Company’s radar heading into the summer transfer season. However, considering the players’ ages and their apparent waning impact, Liverpool believed the offers were too good to pass up when the two were the subject of large financial bids from Saudi Arabia.
They were by no means the only players Liverpool might have sent to the Gulf State, though. Al-Ittihad’s attempts to wrest Mo Salah away from Liverpool were well-documented, but their £150 million offer eventually prevented them from succeeding.
Alisson Becker and Ibrahim Konate, two more Reds talents, were rumored to be interested in moving to Saudi. James Pearce of The Athletic has now exposed how determined the Saudis were to get rid of the 30-year-old Brazil goalkeeper.
Nevertheless, he admits that a timely pay raise eventually helped to deter their interest.
Liverpool loves Alisson and is content to reject an approach from Saudi Arabia.
Pearce explained to The Athletic how Liverpool was able to reject the Saudi proposal while talking about the approach and why Alisson was glad to stay.
Alisson was the target of significant attention from Saudi Arabia, but Liverpool’s owners made it plain that no offers would be considered, according to Pearce. Their position was clear-cut, just like it had been about Al Ittihad’s pursuit of Salah.
The Brazilian goalie feels content and at home at the team. Prior to the attention from Saudi Arabia, a clause in his current contract, which is valid until 2027, was activated this summer, leading to a sizable salary raise for him. He is reportedly the third-highest paid player on the team, behind [Virgil] Van Dijk and Salah.
Alisson, who has been in excellent form, felt completely appreciated at a time when eye-watering sums of money were being offered in an effort to entice players to the Saudi Pro League, so it proved to be a wise option.
In fact, keeping Salah was just as essential to Klopp as thwarting the Saudis’ approach for Alisson.
Statistics show that the 30-year-old outpaced the number of ‘anticipated goals on target’ against him last season by 10.52, a number only one other Premier League goalkeeper exceeded. He is widely considered as one of the top goalkeepers in the Premier League and the entire game of football.
