Not many Premier League fans will remember Mohamed Salah, who was a Chelsea player for two seasons before making a move to AS Roma last summer, but it seems that Liverpool are set to renew their long-standing transfer interest in the player in order to sign him in the next couple of weeks. Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Metro) reports that the club have reached an agreement with Salah’s agent, while Roma are holding onto a €35 million valuation for the attacker.
Salah is a pacey winger who came to the prominence at FC Basel during their incredible Europa League performances against English opposition. Liverpool have been having an interest in the player since then, but it was Chelsea who brought him to English football in January 2014 for around £11 million.
However, lack of regular first-team appearances with the Blues quickly led him to Italian football on loan to Fiorentina. In his loan spell at Florence, he made 26 appearances in all competitions and came up with a respectable nine goals. Even then, Chelsea were not convinced that he had the necessary attributes to succeed in the Premier League. This led to a second loan spell back to Italian football, but this time with Roma.
Salah had a wonderful campaign at the Stadio Olimpico during the 2015-16 season as he managed to score 15 goals in just 42 games even while playing as a winger. This prompted Roma to make a permanent offer for the player for around €15 million only last summer. He repaid the faith of the club by scoring 19 goals in just 41 appearances.
Roma had a wonderful campaign as they missed out on the Italian Serie A title only by a couple of points. Still only 24 years old, he has the capability to make a big impact on any team. Jurgen Klopp is a fan of fast players who will help him in order to enact the intense pressing style of football, while also being able to contribute immensely in the counter attacking situations. Salah fits into this requirements perfectly and it is reported that Liverpool have made initial enquiries for the player as early as last month.
Klopp has also witnessed Salah being deployed in a number of roles this season. He was predominantly seen as a winger who played on the right side of the pitch – despite being a left footer. His strength was to cut in from the right and score goals. Effectively, the signing of Salah will be to provide a backup for Sadio Mane should the Senegalese forward suffer an injury – like he has done in the business end of the season.
Comments are closed.