When a club president is asked directly about Mohamed Salah and responds with "we are interested in really good players" instead of a flat denial, that's not a non-answer — that's an answer.
Sporting Kansas City's head of soccer operations David Lee had every opportunity to shut the conversation down this week. He didn't. "Anyone we think can be a fit for us and is going to fit what we would like to do, we have an interest in and would like to have a conversation with." Read between those lines however you like, but MLS clubs don't accidentally leave those doors open.
Salah's Next Chapter Still Unwritten
The Egyptian is officially a free agent after his Liverpool exit, and while Saudi Arabia had long been the assumed destination, MLS is emerging as the serious alternative. Sporting KC are the name being mooted. It's not the most glamorous landing spot for one of the best forwards of his generation, but the league has form for pulling players of this profile — and Salah at any level of fitness reshapes a squad's ceiling entirely.
For Liverpool, this is the end of a genuinely transformative era. Robertson left for Tottenham when his contract expired. Konate is at Real Madrid. Salah still waiting on a club. Three pillars gone in one summer — and the man tasked with rebuilding, Andoni Iraola, has only brought in Victor Munoz from Osasuna and Jeremy Jacquet, who joined in January for £60m from Rennes. That's a thin net return for the losses absorbed.
Iraola's squad heads to the United States for pre-season shortly. The irony of touring the country that might be signing their greatest recent player isn't lost on anyone.
Larouci Finds Ligue 1 Football With Le Mans
On the quieter end of Liverpool's summer news, Yasser Larouci has signed for Le Mans after leaving Troyes. The wing-back has had a nomadic career since departing Anfield in 2021 — loans to Sheffield United, Watford, and Greek side Kifisia along the way — but Le Mans represent a genuine step up. They were promoted to Ligue 1 last season, and Larouci becomes their third summer arrival.
He joined Liverpool from Le Havre as a teenager in 2017, won the FA Youth Cup in 2019, and got his senior debut under Klopp in an FA Cup tie against Everton in 2020. A solid backstory, even if the first-team career at Anfield never materialized. At least he's heading into top-flight football — for the first time in his career at 25.
- Andy Robertson: joined Tottenham on a free transfer
- Ibrahima Konate: signed for Real Madrid after contract expiry
- Mohamed Salah: still a free agent, Sporting KC among reported suitors
- Victor Munoz: arrived from Osasuna
- Jeremy Jacquet: joined from Rennes for £60m (completed in January)
Lee's carefully worded non-denial is the most interesting thread heading into the week. Salah's market isn't going cold — it's just going west.
