Saudi Arabia giant Al-Ettifaq poked fun at their rival Al-Ittihad while they were announcing the signing of former Everton winger Demarai Gray with a bizzare nod to the ongoing negotiations for Mohamed Salah.
Gray joined the Saudi Arabian side for an £8 million transfer deal before the closure of the Saudi Arabian transfer window, which occurred on September 7, 2023.
Al-Ettifaq confirmed the arrival of the player through a Mario-like video game on social media.
The video opens with “Ettifaq Transfers” before showing a Liverpool badge on the screen.
After that, a picture of Mohamed Salah came into place. An image of Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp immediately resurfaced with the big word “no” on it.
The extraordinary video was a jab thrown at Al Ittihad for its pursuit of the Egyptian before the end of the transfer window.
They have been interested in bringing Salah to the Middle East with a tempting amount of more than £200 million.
Despite signing Karim Benzema and Ngolo Kante, Al Ittihad wanted to make him the face of the club due to the fact that he remains the biggest Arab player in the world.
However, Liverpool were not interested in listening to any interest concerning Mohamed Salah due to the fact that it was extremely difficult to get a new player on the same consistency level.
Salah received a huge David Beckham-like offer to join the Nuno Espiritio Santos side.
The Saudi Arabian side gave Salah a five-year deal with a salary of around £100 million, including a private jet and unlimited plane tickets for his family.
He was also given the opportunity to become an ambassador for tourism and investment.
Players who joins Al-Etifaq this season
Jordan Henderson from Liverpool on a transfer fee of £14 million
Demarai Gray joined Everton for a transfer fee of £9.3 million.
Georginio Wijnaldum from Paris Saint-Germain on a transfer fee of £8 million
Jack Hendry from Club Brugge on a transfer fee of £5 million
Moussa Dembele from Olympique Lyon on a free transfer
Hamdan al-Sharmamrani from al-Ittihad
Radhi al-Otaibe from al-Hazem
Mohamed Abdul Rahman
Amin Al-Bukhari from Al-Nassr on a loan transfer
Jaber Qarradi from Al-Ettifaq
Mishal Al-Alaeli from Al-Ettifaq
Amin Younes from FC Utrecht
Fahad Al-Dossari from Al-Kholood
Mohammed Mahzari from Shoalah
However, they are financially buoyant enough to be on the same level as Al-Nassr and Al Hilal in the league.
These two teams are the biggest spenders in the Middle East, with the ability to throw huge funds at world-class players all over the world.
What do you think about Al-Ettifaq throwing a jab at Al-Ittihad on the Mohamed Salah’s saga?
