Rudy's Rumour Mill: The truth on Dybala & Roma, Saudi clubs feeling confident on Salah
Dybala remains at Roma
Dybala's transfer to Al Qadsiah did not collapse due to the "merit" of the Argentine who changed his mind and preferred the Giallorossi colours to Saudi Arabia, but due to the lack of agreement between the clubs.
Let's take a step back: after weeks of pursuit by Saudi clubs, including an attempt by Al Shabab in July, Dybala had accepted an offer from Al Qadsiah.
The Saudi club presented a two-year contract, with an option for a third year, worth around €18 million per season, including bonuses. This substantial figure, combined with Al Qadsiah's compelling technical project, convinced the Argentine player to say yes to the proposal.
While the deal with Dybala was finalised, there were still a few steps to be taken between Al Qadsiah and Roma to get the deal done. And here the problem arose: until August 20, in fact, the Italian club had not yet received an official offer from the Saudi team.
When Al Qadsiah presented a bid of around five million, Roma firmly rejected the proposal, asking for at least 15 million to let Paulo go. Too much, according to Al Qadsiah, who decided to withdraw from the negotiations: at that point, at a communication level, Dybala's change of decision was too interesting not to be exploited.
It must be said that Paulo was and is very happy in Rome and the fact of refusing Al Shabab's proposals in June had demonstrated this. However, under pressure from his entourage given the excellent commissions in Al Qadsiah's proposal, he accepted the offer. But, once the clubs had not found an agreement, Dybala and Roma decided for this communicative about-face: "I'm staying in Rome".
Saudi clubs keeping tabs on Salah
The 2024-25 season is likely to be Mohamed Salah’s last at Liverpool, with Saudi Arabian clubs already strategizing to secure him as a free agent early next year. Currently, there are no talks of renewing his contract with LFC, as Salah also confirmed in a recent interview.
As we know, Saudi interest in Salah isn't new: Al Ittihad pursued him last year, but Liverpool rejected many big offers for him. In June 2024, Al Ittihad renewed their interest, anticipating that Jurgen Klopp’s potential departure might ease Salah’s exit, but negotiations stalled again.
Now that the summer transfer session in Saudi closed, the PIF is focused on working with Salah to agree all terms of a pre-contract to be signed in January or February, offering a massive 2+1-year deal with a salary comparable to Neymar’s at Al Hilal.
Talks with Salah have been ongoing for two years, and in the next few weeks the PIF will officially present their offer. Saudi confidence in landing Salah is high, with the club he’ll join - potentially Al Ittihad, Al Hilal, Al Nassr, or Al Ahli - to be decided during the new round of negotiations.
Osimhen moves to Galatasaray
Victor Osimhen will be a new Galatasaray player, and this - considering his situation until a few days ago - is surprising news. After the incredible saga between Napoli, Al Ahli and Chelsea, with the Nigerian player out of the squad, an unexpected solution was found with Galatasaray and all the parties involved in the negotiation.
Following Mauro Icardi's injury, the Turkish club made a proposal to Napoli on a straight loan, with all the salary paid, around 10 million euros. Napoli immediately accepted the offer, thus not having to pay an onerous salary to a player outside the project.
At the same time, Victor - after speaking with a delegation of the Turkish club - asked for two conditions to accept the bid: the reduction of the release clause to around 80 million euros and the possibility of parting ways in January in case, one of the 10 top clubs directly selected by him, arrives with a proposal for a transfer in the next winter market session.
If that were to happen, Galatasaray would have financial compensation for his early exit. Both clauses were accepted and the Nigerian player, late yesterday evening, travelled to Turkey to undergo medical tests and sign his new contract. Far from Naples, far from Antonio Conte.
Bergwijn seals Al Ittihad move
It was a thrilling head-to-head for Al Ittihad's new left winger on the last day of the Saudi transfer market. Al Ittihad first submitted an official bid to sign Galeno: the proposal on the table for Porto was €50m overall, €45m fixed fee, and €5m add-ons, accepted in principle by the Portuguese club.
In addition, Al Ittihad - yesterday morning - reached an agreement on personal terms also with the player, who had not trained due to the possible transfer to Saudi.
However, there were some collateral issues - such as agents' fees and other aspects related to bonuses - which took longer than expected and this complicated the deal that – in the end - collapsed.
In parallel, Al Ittihad was also in contact with Ajax and was working on the possible signing of Steven Bergwijn, in the same role as left-winger. When the Saudi club realised the difficulties with Porto, they decided to speed things up for the Dutch player, finalising the agreement with both him and Ajax.
The overall transfer fee was set at around 25 million euros, while the contract with the player is based on a three-year deal with a salary of around eight million per season. The player passed medicals in the late afternoon and signed the contract with Al Ittihad moments before the transfer window closed.