West Ham United forward Michail Antonio claims to know how close Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was to joining the Saudi Pro League this summer.

Salah was extensively connected with a move to Saudi Arabia in the final days of the Premier League’s summer transfer season, but the drama continued until September 7 since the Saudi window remained open.

Jarrod Bowen of the Hammers was even mentioned as a possible replacement for the Egyptian, having been on Jurgen Klopp’s radar for some time.

The Daily Mail said that after failing with a £150 million offer, Al Ittihad returned with one worth more than £200 million, however that offer was never formally acknowledged.

Meanwhile, Klopp was certain about the player, insisting that Salah was simply not for sale.

That hasn’t stopped rumors of another raid next summer, with more than one Saudi team interested in his services.

However, since the beginning of September, West Ham star Antonio has implied that he has inside information on how everything went down.

Salah, according to Antonio, was ready to go.
On the Footballer’s Football Podcast, the Jamaica international stated of Salah’s possibly lucrative move to the Middle East, “He didn’t turn that down, no way.” He was locked up and the Reds had put the red arrow across: ‘You are not going anywhere’. He made no attempt to halt it.

“To be fair to him, he didn’t make a fuss and just let them do their thing.” But I know he was prepared to depart.”

The interview did not go into depth on how Antonio knows what he knows, despite the fact that word on these issues frequently circulates among players and agents.

Salah is expected to return to duty for the Reds in the Europa League against LASK on Thursday night, however there is a chance he will be rested.