"I know Koeman wants Salah, and I know Salah would like to go"
Ajax legend Sjaak Swart has claimed to know for certain that Ronald Koeman wants Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and that the Egyptian striker wants to make the Camp Nou switch.
Mohamed Salah got his season off to a flying start with a hat trick in Liverpool’s 4-3 win against Leeds on Saturday, as the Reds look to the Egyptian striker to help deliver a second consecutive Premier League title this season.
Meanwhile, new Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman is continuing with his plans to revamp the Blaugrana squad, with Ivan Rakitic, Arthur and Carles Pérez having already moved on, and Luis Suárez soon expected to follow.
But the Dutch coach has yet to make a big signing and one of the players understood to be high on his list of desirables is Salah.
Salah "wants" Barcelona switch
Speaking about the topic with DAZN, Dutch footballing legend Sjaak Swart claimed to know for certain that Koeman is targeting Salah and that the Egyptian striker wants to make the Camp Nou switch.
“I know Koeman wants him and I know Salah would like to go,” the 82-year-old former Ajax winger told DAZN (via Voetbalzone).
When pressed to reveal his sources, Swart said: “I can’t”.
“I am not going into any more details, but just believe me that I know,” he added.
Salah could be viewed as ideal replacement for Messi
Georginio Wijnaldum had been the main Liverpool target of Barcelona-related speculation recently, but now the attention has fallen on his Egyptian team mate, who has often been linked with Barca’s rivals Real Madrid in the past.
Signing Salah would go some way in appeasing Barcelona fans should they lose beloved wantaway captain, Lionel Messi, at the end of the season – whether the move for the Liverpool talisman happens this season or next summer.
Could Salah follow the path of Coutinho and Suárez?
Liverpool have had a recent history of losing star attackers to Barcelona, with Suárez and Philippe Coutinho making big money switches switch from Merseyside to Camp Nou in 2014 and 2018, respectively.
Barcelona’s €52 million investment in Suarez – who is set to leave the club after six years of outstanding service (198 goals, 109 assists in 283 games) – proved to be a sound one.
However the same cannot yet be said about the €145 million spent on Coutinho, who has returned to the Catalan capital after a one-season loan spell at Bayern Munich.