Alisson Faces Saudi Push as Liverpool's Resolve is Tested

Liverpool thought they had slammed the door on Alisson Becker’s suitors this summer. Juventus knocked. The club answered, renewed, and moved on.

Now Saudi Arabia is rattling the handle.

From Turin to the desert

Luciano Spalletti made the first move. The Juventus coach, who worked with Alisson at Roma in 2016/17, wanted his old No 1 to anchor a new project in Turin. Liverpool’s response was decisive.

Sporting director Richard Hughes triggered a one-year option in Alisson’s contract, extending his deal to 2027 and reinforcing the message that the Brazil international remained central to the club’s plans. Reports in Italy suggested Alisson had been open to a return to Serie A, but no agreement ever materialised. The expectation since then has been simple: the 33-year-old would stay at Anfield and see out his contract.

That assumption is now under strain.

Saudi journalist Mohamed Bukairy claims Al-Ittihad are closing in on a move for the Liverpool goalkeeper, with newly promoted Al-Diriyah also hovering in the background.

“Al-Ittihad Club's management is close to signing Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker, the guardian of Liverpool's den and the Samba national team,” Bukairy wrote on X, describing a “tempting offer” worth more than €11 million per year.

For a player of Alisson’s stature, Saudi Arabia is no longer a vague possibility. It is a concrete option.

The money on the table

The numbers matter. Alisson is understood to earn around £150,000 per week on Merseyside. The Saudi proposal, converted, would edge that up to roughly £179,000 per week in gross terms.

On paper, that is only a modest rise. Once Saudi tax rules are taken into account, the picture changes. The financial pull becomes obvious, especially for a player in his thirties staring at what could be the last major contract of his career.

This is the calculation facing Alisson: the status and competitive edge of Liverpool versus the financial power and growing profile of the Saudi Pro League.

Liverpool’s dilemma

For Liverpool, the equation is different and far more complex.

Giorgi Mamardashvili stepped in for large parts of last season, covering for Alisson’s growing list of injuries. The Brazilian has missed more matches than the club would like, and the Georgian has shown he can handle extended runs in goal.

That does not make Alisson expendable.

He is not just a shot-stopper. He is a pillar in the dressing room and a voice on the pitch. Liverpool have already waved goodbye to major figures this summer: Andy Robertson, Mohamed Salah and Ibrahima Konaté have all departed, stripping away layers of experience and leadership in one window.

Losing Alisson on top of that would not just be a tactical shift. It would be a cultural one.

Any Saudi club – Al-Ittihad or Al-Diriyah – still needs Liverpool’s consent. Right now, there is little reason to think the club will welcome negotiations, regardless of the size of the offer. The squad has already been thinned at the top end in terms of personality and presence.

Selling another leader, and the man many still see as the best goalkeeper in the world, would send a very different signal about the direction of this rebuild.

Saudi money can bend a lot of plans. The question is whether it can break Liverpool’s.