Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool transfer fear eased after clarification on Saudi Arabia

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp took issue with when the Saudi Pro League transfer window will close and new information has emerged on the date

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Jurgen Klopp has been handed a transfer boost, of sorts, after it emerged that the Saudi Pro League transfer window might not close as late as originally thought.

Liverpool had already seen Roberto Firmino join Al-Ahli on a Bosman transfer at the end of his Anfield contract, before being caught off guard by Saudi interest in both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho. The Reds captain completed a controversial £12m switch to Al-Ettifaq, while the Brazilian joined Al-Ittihad for £40m.

Meanwhile, Thiago Alcantara reportedly rejected Saudi interest earlier this summer, while both Luiz Diaz and Mohamed Salah have been loosely linked with switches to the Gulf state. Elsewhere, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has also attracted interest from Saudi Arabia following the end of his Liverpool contract, while former Reds forward Sadio Mane joined Al-Nassr earlier this week after just a season at Bayern Munich.

With Al Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Ahli all funded by the Public Investment Fund, owners of Newcastle United, countless top players across Europe have been linked with big-money moves to Saudi Arabia.

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Following Cristiano Ronaldo’s switch to Al-Nassr at the start of the calendar year, N'Golo Kante, Ruben Neves, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Alex Telles, Riyad Mahrez, and Allan Saint-Maximin have left the Premier League behind to move to the Gulf state, with the likes of Karim Benzema, Marcelo Brozovic, and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic also making switches of their own from major European leagues.

The Premier League transfer window closes on September 1, as is the case across the majority of Europe. However, according to FIFA, Saudi Arabia’s own window was to remain open until September 20.

Understandably, this caused concern that Saudi clubs would still be able to turn the heads and sign European-based players for a three-week period, at a time when European clubs would not be able to replace them.

Liverpool boss Klopp questioned the situation at a recent press conference, as he urged FIFA to find a solution.

"It is massive, in the moment," he said about Saudi Arabia's current influence on football earlier this week. "Pretty much the worst thing I think is that the transfer window in Saudi Arabia is open three weeks longer.

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"If I am right, I heard something like that, then at least in Europe that's not helpful. UEFA or Fifa must find solutions for that. But in the end, at this moment, I don't know exactly what will happen.

"It is already influential, for us, for sure. We will have to learn to deal with it, and that's what we do. That's pretty much all I can say about it, time will show."

However, Klopp might be relieved to know that, according to Sky Sports journalist Kaveh Solhekol, the Saudi Pro League transfer window actually closes two weeks earlier than previously thought after the Saudi Arabian Football Federation wrote to clubs back in June.

“Saudi Pro League transfer window closes on 7 September,” he tweeted. “According to the FIFA website the Saudi window closes on 20 September but member associations can establish an earlier end date for a specific competition within their territory.

“The Saudi Arabian Football Federation wrote to all SPL clubs on 30 June to tell them this window would close on 7 September.”