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Jurgen Klopp hasn’t had a knock on his office door. But Dominik Szoboszlai heard the speech in the dressing room. Mohamed Salah had told his teammates he is staying, the Hungarian reported. The Egyptian, according to his manager, has never come to tell him he was leaving. The German, seeing Salah’s commitment in matches and training, noting his input in meetings of the players’ leadership group, had not felt the need to ask him if his next match would be for Al-Ittihad. “For me it wasn’t a subject for one second, to be honest,” Klopp said. Perhaps only for him. Klopp could brush aside a £150m bid, with a breezy indifference to the prospect of a windfall, because of Salah’s attitude. “I never had any doubt about his commitment to this club,” he said. “You can’t imagine how much fuss the world has made but how calm we are with it. He is our player and wants to play here.” Which, Szoboszlai said, was the message conveyed to the rest of the side. The Saudi Pro League transfer window remains open but Liverpool’s position is unchanging: Salah is not for sale. The 3-0 win over Aston Villa was his latest tour de force, but there were few signs it will prove his last: there was no wave that could be interpreted as a farewell on the pitch afterwards, his hug with Klopp was brief while the manager paid more attention to Jarell Quansah. There was a feel of normality, though these are abnormal times. More than a few would be distracted by the prospect of becoming the best-paid player in the world: not Salah. Other footballers, from Matheus Nunes to Wilfried Gnonto, went on strike towards the end of the window. Salah instead struck against Villa. Such dissent as he has shown this season came at Chelsea on the opening weekend when he contrived to rip a relatively small bandage into several pieces and fling it on the pitch in his annoyance at being substituted. Yet it was all a sign of an enduring ambition: to play, to excel. The signs are that it is to continue at Liverpool. He has propelled himself to greatness in Europe in a way that was not preordained – not for a player from his background, not for a fringe figure at Chelsea – and perhaps he is reluctant to give up his spot at the top table. Saudi Arabia may not be a retirement home for everyone, but it is for some. Salah’s old sidekicks Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are there, the Senegalese after a troubled season at Bayern Munich, the Brazilian when his race felt run, but Salah is in the sort of shape to suggest that, even at 31, he is not entering his dotage. Even as Erling Haaland seems to have supplanted him as the annual Golden Boot winner, he may be more creative than before. Perhaps no forward in the Premier League presents such an all-round threat. As the best-paid player in Liverpool’s history, he is scarcely a pauper. Yet, in a time of transition at Anfield, when the side of 2024 may not reach the heights of some of its recent predecessors, it is notable that Salah has given no indications he is going. And this when he had more reasons to decamp to Saudi Arabia than most. The inexplicable element is that Al-Ittihad left their approach so late: as the best Arab footballer on the planet and, along with Karim Benzema, the outstanding Muslim player, Salah is seen as a flagship signing, a long-term target for the league as a whole. But that time may now have to be next summer, if not later. Liverpool will tend to sell anyone when three criteria are met: when the offer is big enough, when the player wants to go and when Klopp has the time to recruit a replacement, should he need one. Al-Ittihad only ticked one of those three boxes and increasing the bid to, say, £200m would not change that. If Klopp, his players and the fanbase who sang about their Egyptian king are in harmony, the most intriguing element of the Liverpool coalition is the owners. Fenway Sports Group traded their way to the top; Liverpool’s rise was financed in part by selling very well. Financial logic dictates that nine-figure sums for players in their thirties must be accepted. The case for keeping Salah is partly footballing, partly fiscal, given the value of Champions League qualification, partly a case of morale and status and keeping Klopp happy. But taking £40m for Fabinho, who seemed an old 29 last season, represented the kind of offer they were otherwise unlikely to get; £12m for a 33-year-old Jordan Henderson definitely was. Taking £150m for Salah, who could leave on a free transfer in 2025, might have seemed a no-brainer. But it would also be accepting defeat; for Liverpool but maybe for Salah, too. Read More Jurgen Klopp gives update on Mohamed Salah Saudi Arabia transfer As Saudi clubs prepare world-record bid, Mohamed Salah shows his true value to Liverpool Liverpool reinvented as midfield shuffle hints at Jurgen Klopp’s past Andy Robertson expects Mohamed Salah to stay at Liverpool despite Saudi interest Jurgen Klopp: Liverpool’s stance on keeping hold of Mohamed Salah will not waver Jurgen Klopp gives update on Mohamed Salah Saudi Arabia transfer

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Mutinous soldiers in Niger this week overthrew the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum, adding to a growing list of military regimes in West Africa’s Sahel region and raising fears of regional destabilization. The Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert, faces growing violence from Islamic extremists, which in turn has caused people to turn against elected governments. The military takeovers have followed a similar pattern: The coup leaders accuse the government of failing to meet the people’s expectations for delivering dividends of democracy. They say they will usher in a new democratic government to address those shortcomings, but the process gets delayed. Karim Manuel, west and central Africa analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, says the military governments threaten to unwind democratic gains made not just in the Sahel region but in the broader West Africa region. “This increases political instability going forward and makes the situation on the ground much more volatile and unpredictable. Regional stability is undermined as a result of these coups,” Manuel said. The Sahel region comprises Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria. Here are countries in the Sahel with military regimes: MALI: The Sahel’s latest wave of coups kicked off in Mali in August 2020 when the democratically elected President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta was overthrown by soldiers led by Col. Assimi Goita. The military was supposed to hand power back to civilian rule within 18 months. However, seven months into the transition process, the military removed the interim president and prime minister they had appointed and swore in Goita as president of the transitional government. Last month, Malian voters cast ballots on a new draft constitution in a referendum that the regime says will pave the way for new elections in 2024. BURKINA FASO: Burkina Faso experienced its second coup in 2022 with soldiers ousting Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba about eight months after he helped overthrow the democratically elected President Roch Marc Kaboré early in the year. Capt. Ibrahim Traore was named as the transitional president while a national assembly that included army officers, civil society organizations, and traditional and religious leaders approved a new charter for the West African country. The junta has set a goal to conduct elections to return the country to democratic rule by July 2024. SUDAN: Sudan slipped under military rule in October 2021 when soldiers dissolved the transitional government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok as well as the Sovereign Council, a power-sharing body of military officers and civilians. That took place weeks before the military was to hand the leadership of the council to civilians and nearly two years after soldiers overthrew the longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir amid deadly protests. Eighteen months after the coup and amid the hopes for a transition to democracy, fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has resulted in the deaths of hundreds with no end in sight. CHAD Chad has been under military rule since April 2021 when President Idriss Deby, who ruled Chad for more than 30 years, was killed while battling against rebels in the hard-hit northern region. His son, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Deby, took power contrary to constitutional provisions and was named the interim head of state with an 18-month transitional process set in place for the country’s return to democracy. By the end of the 18 months period, the government extended Deby’s by two more years, triggering protests that the military suppressed. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide No clarity about who's in charge in Niger, 2 days after mutinous soldiers ousted the president How the attempted coup in Niger could expand the reach of extremism, and Wagner, in West Africa Mutinous soldiers say they've taken Niger. The government says a coup won't be tolerated

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