'Mohamed Salah? He's in my bag' - Al Ittihad fans confident of signing Liverpool star

A couple of hours out from Al Ittihad’s showpiece Saudi Pro League match with Al Hilal, and the home club’s supporters around Prince Abdullah bin Faisal Stadium seem pretty confident Mohamed Salah will soon be joining them and their team in the kingdom.

“For sure, 100 per cent,” Ruwan Rajah tells the National, with commendable certainty, Ittihad scarf draped around her neck. “Because there is Neymar, [Karim] Benzema, [Cristiano] Ronaldo - Saudi is doing very well. Ronaldo is such a dream for Saudi fans, right?

“So why don’t we have an Arabic player? Why? Mohamed Salah will happen. I have him in my bag.”

Rajah, who delivers the last line with a laugh, isn’t put off by Liverpool’s reported rejection on Friday of a hugely lucrative offer for Salah, which made worldwide news not long before Ittihad hosted Al Hilal in the Saudi Pro League match billed as the country’s “Clasico”.

Liverpool are alleged to have said no to a verbal proposal from Saudi worth up to £150 million ($188.9m). The European transfer window closed at 1am Saudi time on Saturday morning, but it's worth remembering the SPL window remains open until next Thursday.

Still, the ticking clock hasn’t dampened Rajah’s spirits.

“Oh my goodness, such a beautiful player,” she says of Salah, her twin sister nodding along beside her. “I’m sure he will come. And I will just keep coming here again and again if Salah is here.”

According to Abdulrahman Al Hamali, a member of the Saudi champions' "Ultras" hardcore supporter group, the deal is done.

'Money makes everything happen' - Abdulrahman Al Hamali is certain Al Ittihad will sign Mohamed Salah. John McAuley/The National

“Everything is finished,” he says. “The news that they’re talking about is nothing. Maybe tomorrow,