Chelsea FC: Most Likely Exits
Mohamed Salah
Signed in the January transfer window of 2013 to replace the departing Juan Mata, his explosive pace and impressive finishing ability, especially in the UEFA Champion’s League where his goals were instrumental to Basel’s victories against Chelsea home and away in the group stage, pushed Mourinho to sanction his purchase for 12 million pounds. His 20 goals in 36 appearances for a struggling Eygptian national side also served to buttress his goal-scoring potential.
He showed some promise in his first few appearances, scoring and assisting 2 goals apiece, including the final goal in the 6-0 routing of Arsenal in the EPL game at Stamford Bridge. In all, he managed 11 appearances in all competitions in what was basically a decent half season.
In this just concluded season however, he struggled to get game time, managing just 3 underwhelming substitute Premier League appearances. While he may have blamed his struggles at on his lack of game time, he failed to make any major impact in the few games he started, putting up below par performances in the cup games he featured in.
His poor showing in the 4-2 F.A. Cup 4th-round defeat to Bradford at Stamford Bridge at the end of January 2015 prompted Mourinho to loan him off to Fiorentina as part of the deal that brought Juan Cuadrado to Stamford Bridge.
While Juan Cuadrado struggled to justify his 23 million pound transfer fee, Salah’s enjoyed an upturn in form at Fiorentina, becoming a key figure at the club. His 2 goals against Juventus in the Copa Italia semi-final first-leg, the first an impressive solo run from his own half, earned his club a memorable 2-1 victory which was made even sweeter by the fact that it was Juventus’ second loss at their new Juventus Stadium.
This, along with other impressive performances, has earned him cult-like status at Fiorentina and even pushed Montella to claim that Salah was an even better signing than Cuadrado.
In all, he scored 9 goals in his 25 appearances for Fiorentina in all tournaments, and while the club is likely to take up its option to extend his loan for the entire 2015-2016 for a reported 750,000 pounds, according to Daily Star, Jose Mourinho may probably decide to use the 22-year old Egyptian’s improved profile to sanction a sale for a higher fee than the 12 million pounds paid to secure his signature.
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