Confirmation arrives of the player Slot planned to sign had Mohamed Salah quit Anfield

While all at Liverpool continue to rejoice at the extension of Mo Salah’s contract at Anfield, a trusted journalist has now lifted the lid on the player that Arne Slot intended to sign had the Egyptian decided to leave for pastures new.

The Egyptian talisman has proved one of the most important signings in Liverpool‘s recent history, blasting his way up to third on their all-time top scorers list and doing arguably more than any other player this season to put Arne Slot’s side within a single point of Premier League title glory.

Having scored a colossal 243 goals from 396 appearances for the Reds – 32 of which have come this season in what has proved the best season of Salah‘s career – tying the player down to a new two-year deal could ultimately prove the most significant piece of business of the entire year at Anfield.

However, like any well-run club, Liverpool had prepared for the possibility of Salah leaving for pastures new – especially given the enormous fortunes on offer to the player from Saudi Pro-League sides that could ultimately have persuaded the 32-year-old to walk away as a free agent.

And according to respected German journalist Christian Falk, the player Liverpool had looked at coming in was Leroy Sane, who himself was available as a free agent this summer with his deal at Bayern Munich also set to expire.

However, as Falk explains, Sane is now poised to pen extended terms with the Bundesliga-champions elect – simultaneously crushing Arsenal’s chances of a swoop.

“Leroy Sane’s future will officially be at FC Bayern,” Falk told cfbayerninsider.com.

“The German international is set to reject Arsenal in favour of continuing his stay at the Allianz Arena. The 29-year-old will sign a contract until the summer of 2028.

“We understand that Liverpool were also interested in the potential free agent ahead of the upcoming transfer window.”

DON’T MISS 🔴 Mo Salah: Liverpool superstar’s most outrageous stats that earned new contract.

Liverpool’s pulling power heralded by pundit

At 29, Sane is one of the few players in world football who can reproduce similar numbers to what Salah has been producing for Liverpool.

Indeed, in his time at Bayern Munich, Sane has 59 goals and 54 assists from 216 games – near enough a goal involvement every other appearance.

However, he would have commanded very hefty wages and, given his advancing years, there would have been a feeling that his signing may only have been a temporary fix for FSG, who do prefer to buy players who can grow into world-class stars, as opposed those already considered in that bracket.

All the same, Liverpool will not have had to follow through on that initial interest, with Paul Merson hailing the Reds for having the pulling power to persuade both Salah and Virgil van Dijk to sign new deals – even though both could have earned considerably more by leaving for elsewhere.

“Oh, it’s huge news,” Merson told Sky Sports when news of Salah and Van Dijk’s new deals at Anfield broke.

“They’re signing two £100m players, they’re signing two of the players that are up there as the best in the world in their positions.

“They’ve had a result, Liverpool, to let their contracts run to what they did to now get them to sign again – for me, it just shows the magnitude of how big that club is, Liverpool Football Club.

“When you’re there, it’ll be hard to leave, and fair play to Liverpool.

“To them two players, they could have easily gone, ‘you know what, I’ll go over to Saudi, I’ll pick up as much as I can and finish my career’, and they haven’t, you know, for me it just shows you what they’re about and how big a football club Liverpool is.”

Liverpool latest: Slot’s biggest signing yet close; Reds star to join Everton?

Meanwhile, Liverpool are emerging as strong favourites to beat Chelsea and Real Madrid to the signing of Dean Huijsen after holding ‘face-to-face talks’ with the player and with TWO factors giving them a significant advantage – while Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has revealed the player’s mindset amid strong speculation over his future.

The capture of the twice-capped Spain star might not be celebrated though by everyone at Anfield, with a former Everton scout revealing two reasons why the move could potentially result in defender Jarell Quansah ditching the Reds and moving across the city to Everton.

Elsewhere, a well-connected journalist has astonishingly revealed that Liverpool have been exploring a potential deal for a world-class Chelsea star – which potentially could be worth up to £85m.

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