Confirmed – £70,000-A-Week Star To Play For Chelsea

Last 18 months have brought about a rollercoaster ride for 23-year-old Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah. His impressive performances for FC Basel in the Champions League convinced Chelsea to shell out £11 million on him in January 2014 amid interest from Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Having arrived with huge expectations, Salah’s initial performances in a Blue shirt were failed to light up Stamford Bridge. The first half of the next season followed the same story, which resulted in the player becoming an unwanted commodity at the club within 12 months of joining.

Chelsea loaned him out to Fiorentina in the hope that he could command some sort of fee after performing regularly for the Viola, thus enabling the Blues to cut their losses.

Needless to say, Salah blossomed into a phenomenon in Florence, scoring 6 goals in 16 league appearances and guiding Fiorentina to the Europa league semifinals. He was the best player at the Serie A outfit for the second half of last season.

The Viola wanted to retain the player on loan for a further season , after which they wanted to buy him outright for €17 million. They had also reportedly paid £700,000 as loan fee to the Blues in February , and were offering further £1 million for extending the loan for another season, in addition to a pay rise for the player.

However, recent reports have emerged that Salah has rejected the offer to remain at the Viola amid interest from Inter Milan , who are looking to hijack his move to Florence by paying a £14 million fee to Chelsea for his services.

There have been several claims in the Italian media in the last few days that the Nerazzuri’s interest has reportedly turned Salah’s head. However,if the comments of Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas are anything to go by, it seems the player will choose to stay at Stamford Bridge and fight for his place.

Speaking to Sky Italia , Abbas stated :

“The player will go to the training camp with Chelsea. The English club meet up again officially on Thursday in London, and Salah will be there with them.”

Life, it seems , has come full circle for the 23 year old , who has gone from coveted to unwanted at Chelsea, and now hopes to return at the club after seeing his star shine again, to prove the doubters wrong.