‘He’s perfect for Liverpool’- Salah’s ex-teammate gives detailed insight into winger

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Former FC Basel striker Marco Streller has reflected on his time as Mohamed Salah’s teammate in Switzerland and outlined why he is a great signing for Liverpool.

Salah spent a season-and-a-half at Basel and saw his standout performances in the Champions League and the Europa league attract interest from a number of European clubs.

The winger had looked set to move to Liverpool in January 2014, only for Chelsea to come in with a late and successful £11million bid that subsequently saw the Egyptian move to Stamford Bridge.

An unproductive spell in London, in which he only made 19 appearances, was followed by a notable revival with impressive stints at Fiorentina and then Roma leading to Liverpool reviving their interest earlier this year.

Weeks of lengthy negotiations were eventually finalised on Thursday as the Reds signed Salah on a five-year deal, reportedly worth around £90,000-a-week.

Speaking in reaction to his ex-teammate’s latest move, Streller told ESPN FC: “He’s perfect for Liverpool. The football of Jurgen Klopp is exactly for him.”

“He improved every day. As a striker, he would always get the ball and play direct to me. At the beginning, he had a little problem in front of the goal — he was not a killer in front of the goal.”

“Most of the time he would play on the right side with his left foot. He always searched for the central striker and he always went deep.”

“As a striker and also for the players who play the ball behind the defenders, he was so important. He was always in movements, and he worked a lot for the team — not just in offence, but also in the defence.”

“He was the fastest player I played with, for sure. It was amazing. He was so fast that when my pass was not always good, he would get it.”

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Salah has seemingly rectified the lack of killer instinct in front of goal that Streller references having scored 19-goals in all competitions last season.

The player himself was the first to admit upon completing his move to Anfield that he is in a far stronger position to succeed in England’s top flight than when he was at Chelsea.

Liverpool have themselves a much better player than the one they missed out on three-and-a-half years ago.

 

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