Robbie Fowler only started coaching in Saudi Arabia at the end of June - but that has still proven sufficient time for him to grasp the scale and power of the country's vast wealth. "What the Saudis want, they usually get," the former Liverpool striker wrote in his column in The Daily Mirror over the weekend.
Fowler, then, will not have been at all surprised by Monday's revelation that a Saudi delegation had already arrived in England with the sole intention of convincing his old club to sell Mohamed Salah to Al-Ittihad for a fee in the region of £200 million ($250m).
Fowler knew that there was absolutely no chance of the Pro League side giving up on signing Salah - even after last Friday's first offer of £150m ($190m) had been rejected by the Reds. "I know there will be another huge bid," the Al-Qadsiah coach said, "and I know it could be one which is hard to refuse - for both the player and the club."