"He was going from Basel to Liverpool, and I made a fight" - Jose Mourinho makes interesting claim on Mohamed Salah's Chelsea stint
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho insists he fought to keep Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah at Stamford Bridge and wasn't responsible for the 31-year-old's departure from the club in 2016.
Salah made a name for himself at Basel between 2012 and 2014, scoring 21 goals in 95 appearances in total. His performances caught the eye of Liverpool and Chelsea in January of 2014 before the latter beat the Reds to his signature, signing the Egyptian King for a reported transfer fee of £11 million.
Salah struggled to integrate himself into Jose Mourinho's starting XI over the following year-and-a-half, making just 19 appearances across all competitions, where he scored two goals and provided four assists.
The Egypt skipper was loaned to Fiorentina and Roma over the next two seasons before joining the latter on a permanent deal ahead of the 2016-17 season for €15 million.
Salah had a stellar showing for Roma that season, netting 19 goals in 41 appearances across all competitions. Liverpool opted to sign him the following summer for £36.5 million - a reported fee that has become one of the biggest bargains of this generation.
Mourinho made an appearance on Mikel John-Obi's The Obi One Podcast, where he defended his treatment of Salah and said (via @ChelsTransfer):
“When people say you let Salah go, I say exactly the opposite. I bought Salah. I was the one that said buy that guy. He was going from Basel to Liverpool and I made a fight. I made a war to make him come to Chelsea."
He added:
"Then comes the part to be a Chelsea player, you need to perform or have to wait. He didn’t want to wait and wanted to go on loan and then Chelsea at a certain point decided to sell. That was not me.”
Salah has gone on to become one the best players in the world for Liverpool over the past six years. He has scored 200 goals and provided 87 assists in 328 appearances across all competitions, helping the Reds win seven trophies, including the Premier League and UEFA Champions League.
Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah has been in sensational form this season
Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah has shown no signs of slowing down this season and has been in excellent form so far. The 31-year-old has netted 14 goals and provided eight assists in 23 appearances across all competitions.
Salah has also scored 11 goals in the Premier League, second to just Manchester City's Erling Haaland, who has 14 goals. Jurgen Klopp and Co. rejected Al-Ittihad's reported bid of £150 million over the summer for Salah and their decision appears to be paying dividends so far.
The Egyptian's feats have propelled the Reds to second in the league standings with 38 points from 17 games, just one point behind Arsenal. They are also in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 and the EFL Cup quarter-finals and have a genuine shot of winning all three competitions.