Chelsea FC and FC Basel Agree to Salah Deal

Chelsea officially confirmed today that Basel FC winger Mohamed Salah is on his way to Stamford Bridge. The two sides have agreed to the deal but it is still pending a physical and discussion of personal terms. It seemed just yesterday that the Egyptian was on his way to Anfield but Chelsea stepped in and snatched the player out of Liverpool’s grasp. Salah is a fine player who will add depth to the attacking midfield and his impending arrival surely signals the end of Juan Mata’s career at Chelsea.

The Salah signing is a bit strange in the sense that Chelsea has more than enough talent and depth in the attacking midfield if you include the likes of loanees Victor Moses, Lucas Piazon, and to an extent Marko Marin. Salah is more developed than Piazon and a better player than Marin, but is he better than Moses? The jury is still out but Moses is a proven Premiership player who scored more than his fair share of big goals for the club last year and I would place he and Salah on equal pegging. So why spend the cash on Salah? Is it more of the “if they score on you buy them” policy fans have joked about with the purchases of Raul Meireles and Fernando Torres?

The Egyptian has shone on the big stages of the Europa League and Champions’ League, particularly against Chelsea, but he has only scored 20 goals in 78 total appearances. While goals are not the only measure of a player, he does not seem to be a player that will challenge Andre Schurrle and Willian for minutes on the wings.The simple solution would have been to recall Moses as depth after the loss of Mata but Chelsea have instead spent a reported 10 million pounds, according to The Telegraph, on another squad player.