Mohamed Salah and Fiorentina saga takes ugly turn after club threatens legal action
Fiorentina has released a statement on their official website, confirming the club’s intention to pursue a legal battle against Mohamed Salah, following his refusal to return to training with the club.
“Through his representative, the player has expressed his desire to join another club.He has also informed us that he does not intend to respond to our request to report back for pre-season training.As a result of the above, we have placed the matter in the hands of our lawyer’s so that they may assess all possible courses of action,“ the statement on Fiorentina’s official website read.
Earlier in the day, the Daily Mirror reported that Fiorentina were contemplating taking the legal route to resolve the transfer situation surrounding Mohamed Salah. The Viola are planning to take this drastic step as they say they had paid a guarantee fee that gave the right to exercise extension of the player’s loan spell.
Reports last week had suggested that Salah was willing to extend his loan spell provided his demands of a better salary was met. Fiorentina had offered Salah a deal worth £40,000-a-week.
Meanwhile, Sky Sports had reported on Thursday that Salah was expected to finalise the decision regarding his future in the next 24 hours. The player’s agent Ramy Abbas, in a subsequent interview to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, however, told that his client won’t be staying in Florence.
“We have decided not to remain in Fiorentina. Salah will move to another Italian club,” Abbas told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
That club is widely believed to be Inter Milan, though Roma and Juventus are also interested. Roberto Mancini’s admiration of the player is no secret and the Nerazzuri manager had contested with the Florence club for Salah’s signature in January.
“It’s true, Salah had thought about us and there was a concrete possibility. I spoke to him on the phone, “Mancini told Football Italia. “We knew Chelsea wanted Cuadrado. So we couldn’t give them a player in exchange the way Fiorentina did.”
Shaqiri moves to Stoke
Meanwhile, Inter Milan have agreed a fee with Stoke City for Xherdan Shaqiri’s transfer to the Premier League club and are interested in bringing in Salah as a replacement.
Salah moved to Chelsea from Swiss side Basel in the 2013/14 winter transfer window, but managed just six league starts in the next one year. The Egyptian winger, however, had a fruitful time in Italy with Fiorentina after leaving Stamford Bridge as part of the deal that saw Colombian Juan Cuadrado heading the other way.
Salah scored six goals in 16 Serie A appearances to help Fiorentina finish fourth, thus enabling them to qualify for the Europa League.
Fiorentina’s case might not hold ground
The La Gazzetta dello Sport report further produced an image of a supplementary document that says that Salah has the right to chose his destination even if an agreement is reached between Chelsea and Fiorentina.
This agreement was signed on February 2 and states that the employment contract expires on June 30, with the player having no liability to continue at the club against his wish.
