How Liverpool nearly signed Mo Salah for just £11million

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Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah joined the Reds in 2017 from Roma, in a deal which cost the club £38million. The Egyptian has proved he’s worth that price tag three times over, but it all could have been so different.

Liverpool had wanted me for a number of months. They had opened talks in October 2013,” the Egyptian told MBC Masr in 2016 (as quoted by The Express).

Negotiations took a long time, because Basel rejected more than one offer. They felt the transfer fee was not that high. I was waiting for Liverpool because I really like them. I was eager to join them.

But then I received a phone call from Mourinho and that changed everything. He explained the situation to me and told me that he needed me at Chelsea. That was one of the main reasons why I joined Chelsea.

Mourinho told me that he thought I was a good player and that he wanted me to pick Chelsea.

Salah signed for Chelsea from Basel for a reported fee of £11million, but it didn’t go to plan for him. He was loaned out to Serie A outfit Fiorentina to play under less pressure.

The Londoners then opted to give the winger a permanent move for Roma, after a year there too. It was in the Italian capital where Mo would really begin to make a name for himself in Europe.

Salah found the net 25 times for Roma in two seasons and caught the eye of the Reds once more. He made the correct decision this time and joined Liverpool in 2017.

The rest, as they say, is history – the forward has helped us to our sixth Champions League title in 2018/19, and our more-than-likely first domestic league title in 30 years this season.

We’ll never know what would have happened if Jose Mourinho didn’t make that call to Mo six years ago, but we’re glad with how things have worked out since!

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