Many football fans would forget that Mohamed Salah played for Chelsea between 2014 and 2016, as he only made 19 appearances. The Egyptian was signed by the Blues in January 2014 for a reported £11 million but his move never really took off and he spent half of the title-winning 2014/15 campaign on loan to Fiorentina as he went in search of regular first-team football. AS Roma then took Salah on loan with the option of a £15 million permanent deal at the end of the loan period, which they took with open arms.
Now, Mohamed Salah is one of Europe’s hottest players and is currently the Premier League’s leading goal scorer, with nine goals in 12 matches. He has started with a bang at Liverpool after Jurgen Klopp decided to sign him for a fee in the region of £45 million and Chelsea fans are ruing their side’s decision to sell the mercurial wide man. This has extended to members of the first-team at Stamford Bridge as Eden Hazard has made it clear that Salah wasn’t given the chance he deserved in West London.
The Belgium international said “he did not get his chance at Chelsea” after describing his former team-mate as a “top, top player”. This comes before the two sides meet at Anfield on Saturday in the late kick-off and Hazard was discussing his side’s chances against the Reds, saying that he is hopeful they will recreate their brilliant performance against Qarabag in the Champions League in midweek. However, the forward was quick to add that their upcoming opponents have plenty of quality players and that it’s not just Salah who is running the team.
The two fast wingers played in the same Chelsea team under Jose Mourinho and Hazard suggested that the reason for the Liverpool’s star’s lack of game time was because Chelsea “had me (Hazard), Willian, Oscar” at the time. This isn’t the only player sale that is coming back to haunt them this season as Kevin De Bruyne, who also played for the Blues, is the top flight’s other stand-out performer. Mourinho has definitely had finer moments!
Header image by Saiflee100 (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
