Alisson: Saudi interest was attractive but I play for love

Alisson has revealed that he rejected approaches from Saudi Arabia to stay at Liverpool this summer.
The goalkeeper said the mind-boggling wages on offer in the Middle East carried a certain attraction, adding he was “open” to the project later in his career, but his priority was to extend his contract, which has up to three years left to run.
His declaration came as the Merseyside club looks to future proof its options by continuing talks over a move for Valencia and Georgia No 1 Giorgi Mamardashvili for a fee of around £30million. The 23-year-old would likely remain in Spain for a season before switching to the Premier League.
Interest in Mamardashvili has brought scrutiny over Alisson’s plans but, rather than thinking of leaving, his commitment appears absolute. The 32-year-old saw former team-mates Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson move to Saudi Arabia last summer as part of a concerted recruitment drive with varying degrees of success, but overtures to make him the Saudi league’s latest high-profile recruit failed.
Asked about an offer from Saudi, Alisson, whose deal runs until 2026 with Liverpool holding an option to extend for a further 12-months, said: “Yes, they had interest. I want to honour my contract and finish my contract here or make a new one. I am really happy here. My family is happy.
“I never got to the point where I was talking about wages and things like this. It was just interest, but when you hear about the numbers the other players are getting you are a little bit attracted. That is normal.
“At the end of the day, you play football for love, it is the thing you like to do, but it is our profession and we want to use the years that we have to make the most of it. I think I am open to that personally but not now. Now is not the time.
“While I still have my contract here, I will be focused here. If it is in the interest of the club to negotiate [to sell] me, then it will be a different conversation.
“When the interest from Saudi came, I cannot close the door on a big deal [without thinking]. But my decision was always to stay and focus on the things we can achieve, this new beginning and this new start, and I am really excited about that. We are starting fresh with new energy and looking forward to what this season will bring for us.”
It serves to underline the strength of Liverpool’s interest in Mamardashvili that they informed Alisson of their desire to sign the 6ft 6ins stopper before those efforts became public.
The deal fits in with the sort of long-term planning that Michael Edwards, CEO of football for Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, favours and Alisson is understanding of the situation while not planning to be usurped.
“The club needs to prepare for the future,” he said. “We are not going to last forever here, I am getting old! No, for a goalkeeper I am still young, I have a lot of energy and I still have much to give for this club and I want to give to the club as much as I can.
“They will do it for different positions as well. We have so many important players with the contract expiring and the club needs to organise themselves for the future.
“I think it was a good idea. I knew about that [Mamardashvili] before it came out on social media and that is a good message for me because the club cares about what I think. They are doing the right thing but, on my side, as long as I have my contract here and as long as I am happy here, the club is happy with me, my family is happy here, [so] I will stay.”
Alisson’s contentment has been bolstered by his first impressions of the new head coach, Arne Slot, who takes charge of a competitive home fixture for the first time on Sunday with the visit of Brentford and has brought a “new energy” to the club.
There is an increased emphasis on building attacks out of defence which gives greater responsibility to the Brazil No 1, although playing over the opposition press remains an option for him. There was a connection, Alisson says, from their very first conversation.
“His way of playing is the way I like to play, starting build-up, not only kicking long balls,” Alisson said. “If the manager prepares the team for that, it’s the best thing, because everyone wants the ball, everybody wants to play and everybody shows themselves to get the ball so I have a lot of options on the pitch to play the pass.
“I don’t only have one option. It’s not that he says, ‘Just play short passes, you cannot kick long balls.’ He is open to everything and understands that in football sometimes you are going to use long balls.
“We train it. Myself, Virgil [van Dijk], we have quick players up front. If we can create spaces starting from goal kicks or deep positions then that is also good for us.
“The first contact is really important. It does not define the relationship for the year or the years, but it was really important to see how clear he is in his ideas and see how cool he is as a person as well.
“He is a really nice person, a family guy, a family man with a lot of conviction in his ideas of what he wants from the players and the team and what he wants to achieve. His goals are for greatness, great things at the club. The same as mine.”