Chelsea: Blues will always rue selling £12m star who’s now worth £150m+
He came as a pauper, went away as an outcast, and came back as a king. Chelsea was unable to acquire one of the world’s greatest players.
What a trappings of wealth, huh? For several years, Chelsea seemed to have a tendency to transform promising young players from around the world into foolish, almost comical deadwood.
Name the first person who comes to mind. Kevin De Bruyne or Romelu Lukaku? Is it Daniel Sturridge or Nathan Ake? When they left west London for the peak of the sport, their time at the Bridge was frequently a footnote to far bigger and grander career milestones.
The topic of Mohamed Salah today is no exception.
How much did Chelsea sell Mohamed Salah for?
Encouraged by his innate talent for football, Salah watched Basel scout him out of Al Mokawloon in 2012. In Switzerland, the specialist scouts who had discovered him were completely rewarded after just two terms.
With two goals against Chelsea in the Champions League and 20 goals in 79 appearances, Salah was particularly motivated to make the £11 million transfer in 2014. Naturally, though, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea team didn’t succeed.
Rumors about his involvement in Egyptian military service dogged him from the moment he enlisted. Conscription was, however, rejected following a meeting with Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Egyptian Manager Shawky Gharieb.
Regretfully, certain things were off the table, like regular beginnings and form. Salah and Andre Schurrle received public criticism from Mourinho following a particularly subpar performance in the League Cup against Shrewsbury Town, and 2015 thus suggested that there might be further possibilities.
After two fruitful loans to Fiorentina, Salah shone well in Italy for Roma. With 14 goals in 34 games, particularly at the later, the Gialarossi decided to stick with the change for the 2016–17 season. For a mere £12 million, Chelsea and the Player of the Year from Roma called it quits. Perhaps the Blues should have focused on Salah’s untapped potential since they were probably already considering who the next big player to sign is. After the initial loan, why did they allow him to leave?
The 2016–17 season, even at just 24 years old, was a terrific showcase. He exceeded his output from the previous season and concluded the 2017 Serie A season with an exciting 15 goals and 13 assists in 31 appearances.
With 29 goals in 37 games, Edin Dzeko—Salah’s assistant—topped the scoring charts as Roma easily won second place. Salah attracted Liverpool’s attention as the catalyst for much of Roma’s fluidity under Luciano Spalletti, and the club purchased the right-winger for a record £36.9 million in June 2017 on a five-year contract.
Just how good has Mo Salah been since joining Liverpool?
Regarding Salah at Liverpool, what else needs to be said that hasn’t been said already? It’s unlikely that you are unaware of his skill, as evidenced by his 142 goals in 226 Premier League appearances. After spending seven seasons in England, the wing wizard has undoubtedly returned to trouble Chelsea.
The Egyptian has not only established himself as one of the greatest ambassadors in the world, but also for his own nation and Liverpool. The ‘Egyptian King’ is revered as a god on Merseyside and the Nile. Following his 2015–17 Italian tour, he returned to the Premier League, only now beginning to grasp the full extent of his abilities.
The five-foot-nine Salah has never had a season with fewer than 15 goals as of the time of writing, following a brilliant 2017–18 campaign in which he scored 32 goals.
So what is Salah’s current net worth? On transfer deadline day, Al-Ittihad made a massively exaggerated bid of £150 million for the winger, a move that suggested the Anfield team values him even more. This was in the midst of the Saudi trend of snatching up talent.
The Egyptian remains faithful to the Kop (as of right now). Salah’s more realistic valuation, according to Football Transfers, is €63.4, or £55 million.