Liverpool and Man Utd dominate a Premier League XI of possible Saudi Arabia targets | OneFootball

Mohamed Salah and Kevin de Bruyne have been linked with moves to Saudi Arabia.

Look, this January window is a washout isn’t it? You know it, we know it, everyone knows. Everyone’s got the FFP fear, the big teams don’t want to take any risks and everyone in the bottom half of the table has understandably concluded that the safest way to survival might be to just sit tight and wait for the points deductions to roll in elsewhere.

But there’s still hope for the Saudi Arabia lads to start chucking all the money around again, isn’t there? And if not now then definitely in the summer.

Here’s an XI of Premier League players who could go off and have very nearly as much fun out there as Jordan Henderson did.

GK: Alisson (Liverpool) There were – admittedly slightly sketchy – reports of interest last year and talk of the Brazilian being ‘tempted’. Never really seemed convincing and never felt like a serious prospect in a summer where Liverpool faced so very much interest in so very many players. But we know Saudi Arabian clubs like Liverpool players and if you like Liverpool players and would be keen to sign them then the best goalkeeper in the world isn’t a bad starting point.

RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Manchester United) Contract talks have apparently stalled, with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr rumoured to be keeping a close eye on that situation having failed with a bid for Tottenham’s Emerson Royal, who – SPOILER ALERT – turns up at centre-back in our team here as a reflection of his primary role this season. Wan-Bissaka is one of two reported United targets at Al-Nassr and it would appear to be the Red Devils’ best/only chance of recouping significant chunks of the very hefty fees they paid for AWB and Casemiro.

CB: Emerson Royal (Tottenham) Right-back by trade who spent the first part of the season looking like a relic of an unloved former era at Spurs, but has done sterling work pressed into emergency service at left-back and most notably centre-back in an Angeball defence that has comprised four full-backs more often than you’d really say is ideal.

So vital is the versatility and work-rate of a player Postecoglou has singled out for praise a few times that Spurs have already knocked back offers this month. Come the summer, though, and the next stage of the Spurs rebuild, will there be the same reluctance to part with a useful but distinctly non-first-choice player when significant money is being waved in faces?

CB: Joel Matip (Liverpool) Out of contract in the summer and could be tempted by Steven Gerrard and Al Ettifaq. It’s not quite a talent drain, but Liverpool have certainly been the English club most directly inconvenienced by Saudi largesse. Having forced the Reds to accelerate a midfield rebuild last summer, it could be a similar story for the defence next time around.

LB: Joe Gomez (Liverpool) We all know Steven Gerrard wants to be Liverpool manager, and it might be that the only way he can do so is vicariously in Saudi Arabia by simply buying as many Liverpool players as he can. Building his team like a model railway in the attic. Joe Gomez is under contract until 2027 and has been a tremendously useful utility player for Jurgen Klopp this season but does he have a long-term specific first-team role? Is he one they might cash in on?

We also enjoy that in this team we’ve got a centre-back by choice at left-back and a full-back by choice at centre-back because that’s where their current teams have generally needed them this season.

CM: Casemiro (Manchester United) It can be both blessing and curse when the Saudi clubs start sniffing around your players. This one has the feel of a good fit for all concerned. Casemiro was excellent at points during his first season at United. We were worried when they signed him, because Real Madrid are generally pretty astute when it comes to timing the departures of legends. But he was an important presence for a United team under Erik Ten Hag last season that really did seem to be taking a decisive turn for the sensible and good.

Obviously, that’s all gone to sh*t this season and Casemiro being so very far off the pace after what looked to have been a summer break enjoyed to the full has undoubtedly been a factor. From what little we’ve seen of the Saudi league, a charitable assessment for all would be that Casemiro looks ideally suited to the pace of their game.

CM: Thomas Partey (Arsenal) Form and fitness issues along with the arrival of Declan Rice have reduced Partey’s importance to Arsenal this season, and when he has been used it’s as often been as makeshift right-back as in his preferred midfield role. Rightly or wrongly, there’s a perception that Partey is starting to struggle with the pace and intensity of Our League, and those are the kinds of players for whom the lucrative yet vastly lower intensity Saudi game must look mighty tempting.

AM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) Not happening yet, may not happen at all, but you can be absolutely certain the summer will contain an awful lot of chat about De Bruyne’s future, with Al-Nassr apparently – and, fair enough, understandably – to have De Bruyne creating chances for Cristiano Ronaldo. Whatever else you may think of Saudi Arabia’s footballing powergrab, you do have to concede that this sounds like quite a good idea that would probably work quite well.

LW: Richarlison (Tottenham) Has found some form at last under Ange Postecoglou and certainly won’t be going anywhere in a January window where Spurs are one of vanishingly few clubs using it to increase the depth of their squad, but the chance to recoup and reinvest any sizeable chunk of the £50m they sent Everton’s way two years ago might be harder to resist in the summer.

RW: Mo Salah (Liverpool) He’s still the big one, isn’t he? Having got Ronaldo and missed out on Messi, Salah is the biggest name in play for Saudi Arabia for multiple reasons footballing and otherwise. Liverpool will fight with all their might to stop it happening for as long as they possibly can, while Salah himself has in fairness given little indication that he has any immediate desire to swan off into semi-retirement while still so demonstrably at the very top of his game.

CF: Anthony Martial (Manchester United) Somehow still at Manchester United, a walking, talking reminder of the mess they’ve made of their transfer business in recent years. Signing him was fine, but failing to correct what has since proved to be a mistake over what is now a really quite staggering number of years is a damning criticism of a club that so often just appears to be drifting aimlessly in the transfer market. A solid combination of profile and availability makes Martial one of the most compelling Saudi targets around.