Liverpool have included Jordan Henderson and Fabinho in their provisional squad list travelling to a pre-season training camp in Germany this weekend, and have placed a minimum £20 million price tag on their captain amid ongoing Saudi interest.
Manager Jurgen Klopp and his players fly from Merseyside on Saturday, with their first warm-up game against Bundesliga 2 side Karlsruher on Wednesday.
Unless there is a significant bid for either Henderson or Fabinho in the next 24 hours, there is no reason why they will not be part of the travelling party.
Henderson, 33, has been offered a £700,000-a-week contract to move to join Al-Ettifaq. Despite claims his mind is set on the move, all options remain on the table with the captain’s chances of joining former teammate, Steven Gerrard, resting on how much the Saudis are prepared to pay for him.
Henderson could find himself in an awkward situation if Al-Ettifaq’s interest is dependent on a misplaced belief that he can be bought with a lowball transfer offer.
Liverpool - who were not proactively seeking to sell Henderson or Fabinho in this transfer window - will not shift their stance and allow their captain to go on the cheap.
Henderson’s valuation is proportional to the fee Chelsea received for 32-year-old centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly.
Koulibaly joined Al Hilal in June in a deal worth £21 million.
Fabinho is attracting attention from Al-Ittihad, who have been reported to be preparing a £40 million offer.
Bids for the midfielders have the potential to cause serious disruption to Klopp’s plans, and his response will be intriguing.
Klopp fought hard for Henderson to be given a £200,000-a-week four year deal in 2021. That raised eyebrows at the time because it was a departure from the usual and highly successful club policy whereby owners, FSG, are reluctant to overspend on extended contracts whenever their data suggests a player’s performances will deteriorate, especially after they turn 30. There was plenty of internal discussion at the time surrounding the merits of that deal before Klopp intervened to - as he put it at the time - ‘sort it’.
In the two years since, Liverpool did not sign a midfielder until this summer and faced mounting criticism for allowing the age profile in the position to rise. They have already lost three senior midfielders since May.
It was known Liverpool were prepared to sell at least one more midfielder in this window if it allows Klopp to add another recruit, but to lose two more senior players - especially those who fill such a key position - is not part of the plan.
Henderson has faced a backlash from the club’s LGBT+ fans for considering the Saudi move. Although other global stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo have made the transfer to the Saudi Pro League without large-scale personal criticism, Henderson’s highly vocal support of oppressed groups has led some to express their disappointment at the potential destination.
