In this new mini-series, I take a look at a few players that Chelsea let go too early and have gone on to become big players since. Next up, it’s Mohamed Salah.
Salah started his career with El Mokawloon and made his debut in the Egyptian Premier League at the age of 17 in 2010.
In February 2012, the Egyptian Premier League was suspended due to the Port Said stadium riot and in March, the Egyptian FA made the decision to cancel the 2011-12 season outright.
FC Basel
With the league now canceled, FC Basel, who had had a keen eye on Salah for some time, decided to organise a friendly with the Egypt U23 squad. Salah came on as a second-half substitute and scored twice, helping his side to a 4-3 over the Swiss outfit.
His performance warranted an invite from Basel to join their training camp for a week and in April, he made the switch from El Mokawloon to Basel having scored a respectable 12 goals in 44 appearances for his boyhood club.
Signing a four-year deal with the then Swiss League and cup champions, Salah made his debut in a Champions League preliminary match against Molde in August. His first goal for the side came on August 18th in a 2-0 league win over Lausanne.
His first European goal came at a timely moment, in the Europa League quarter-finals against Tottenham Hotspur, where Salah’s side advanced on penalties after a 4-4 aggregate score over normal and extra time. Salah went on to score again in the semi-finals against Chelsea but the Swiss side was comprehensively beaten 2-5 on aggregate.
The 2013-14 season saw Basel enter the Champions League group stage, as they drew Chelsea, Schalke, and Steaua București. His scoring streak against the Blues continued, as he bagged in the away fixture which Basel won 2-1, before scoring the only goal in a Basel victory in the reverse game.
It was then no surprise that in January 2014, Chelsea and Jose Mourinho came calling and Salah signed for the Blues that month for £11m.
Joining Chelsea
The start of his Chelsea career looked very promising. His first goal for the side came in the 6-0 thumping of Arsenal in March and two weeks later he scored and assisted in a 3-0 win over Stoke.
The following season started with more positivity for Salah from a non-footballing point of view, as he was spared of military service by Egyptian prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab after an education scheme that the winger registered for was rescinded by the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education.
But with many thinking that this was to be Salah’s breakthrough season at Stamford Bridge, they were soon proved otherwise as the Egyptian went on to only make 19 appearances in all competitions, including a poor performance in a league cup tie vs Shrewsbury – where he was publicly criticised by manager Jose Mourinho – before he was sent out on loan to Fiorentina on deadline day of January 2015.
Regarding Mourinho’s words on Salah (and the equally disappointing Andre Schurrle on the night) after the Shrewsbury game, he didn’t hold back.
“If players that played 90 minutes two days ago were fantastic, I expect people who are not playing a lot to raise the level to create problems for me.”
When asked if it was Salah and Schurrle that disappointed him specifically, he merely replied “yes”.
Florence
So, Salah left the Bridge on loan for the greener pastures of Florence in the hope that he could get more game time and that is exactly what he got.
His first start for the Italian side saw him score his first goal and get his first assist as his side won 3-1 against Sassuolo. His customary form in Europe kicked into gear once again as just over a week later, he scored against Spurs in the Europa League Round of 32 in a 3-1 aggregate win for his side.
The goals didn’t stop there, as in March he scored the winning goal against Inter Milan and a few days later, he got a brace against Italy’s giants Juventus in the Coppa Italia.
Rome
His sensational form for I Viola tempted the club to make Salah’s loan deal permanent, but the Egyptian star refused to sign and on August 6th, 2015, he made the 145-mile switch to Roma on loan.
The two seasons he would spend in the capital, the second of which was made a permanent deal by I Giallorossi, would see him win a Player of the Season award (during his loan season) having scored 15 goals in all competitions and in 16/17, he would go onto help Roma to 2nd in Serie A, scoring 15 league goals and racking up 11 assists.
The tempting thing to say now would be “a big-money move followed for Salah”, but the £38m that Liverpool paid to bring Salah to Anfield looked almost a bargain when the football world at the time was witnessing £150m+ moves for players like Ousmane Dembele, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Liverpool
And, my, how it has worked out for him at Liverpool. The winger’s words upon joining the Reds of “I hope to see that together we can give everything to win something for the club, for the supporters and for us” couldn’t have become any truer.
On a personal level, Salah demolished a host of goalscoring records in his debut season.
In December 2017, he became the joint-second fastest player to reach 20 goals for Liverpool on his 26th appearance, and three months later, he broke a record of scoring 36 times in his debut season for Liverpool, also becoming the first Egyptian player to score a Premier League hat-trick after scoring four against Watford.
In April, he won the PFA Player of the Year Award and two days later, he scored twice against his former side Roma in the Champions League semis, thus becoming the first African and the first Liverpool player to score 10 goals in a single campaign in the tournament.
That brace subsequently took him to 43 season goals in all competitions, overtaking Roger Hunt’s 1961-62 tally of 42, making him Liverpool’s second-highest goalscorer in a single season, behind Ian Rush.
Salah ended the league season that year with 32 goals, making him the Premier League’s all-time goalscorer for a 38-game season.
Oh, and he’s also the fastest Liverpool player to score 100 goals for the club.
A Champions League trophy and Premier League title later, Salah has proved so many people wrong throughout his career and who knows what could have been having he hit the ground running for Chelsea.
The talent was there during his time in London, but there’s no denying he wasn’t given the right opportunities at the right time, and now for the last three seasons he’s been playing under a manager that knows exactly where he thrives on the pitch with the right players around him.
The man they called a ‘one season wonder’ has certainly had the last laugh.
Written by Luka Foley @UOGLuka
Edited by Jai Mcintosh @jjmcintosh5