Sold for £12m, now worth £150m+: Chelsea will always regret selling elite 5 ft 9 star – opinion
He arrived a pauper, left an outcast, but returned as a king. Chelsea failed to unlock one of the best players in the world.
Talk about the pitfalls of riches, eh? For a number of years, Chelsea had a penchant for seemingly turning exciting young world talents into blundering, nearly laughable deadwood.
Off the top of your head, who do you think of? Romelu Lukaku or Kevin De Bruyne? Nathan Ake or Daniel Sturridge? Their times at the Bridge were often a footnote to much bigger and grander career events as they approached the pinnacle of the sport after leaving west London.
Today’s subject of Mohamed Salah is no different.
How much did Chelsea sell Mohamed Salah for?
Spurred on by his natural football gift, Salah saw himself scouted from Al Mokawloon to Basel in 2012. In Switzerland, just two terms were enough to fully reward the niche scouts who had picked him up.
Especially after 20 goals in 79 games, as well as two goals against Chelsea in the Champions League, Salah made the switch in 2014 for £11m. Of course though, things just didn’t work out at Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.
As soon as he joined, his involvement was marred by rumours of Egyptian military service. However, after meeting with the Egyptian manager, Shawky Gharieb, and Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab – conscription was off the table.
Unfortunately, other things off the table were consistent starts and form. After a particularly poor showing against Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup, Salah and Andre Schurrle publicly came under fire from Mourinho and thus 2015 signalled to opportunities elsewhere.
Two successful loans to Fiorentina and then Roma saw Salah light up Italy. Especially at the latter with 14 goals in 34 games – the Gialarossi made the move permanent for 2016/17. Chelsea parted ways with the Roma’s Player of the Year for just £12m. With the Blues likely already eyeing up the next talent to bring in, their attention should’ve perhaps been on Salah’s raw potential. Why did they let him leave after the first loan?
Still at just 24, the 2016/17 season was a great spotlight. He topped the season prior’s effort and ended 2017’s Serie A term with a thrilling 15 goals and 13 assists in 31 games.
Roma cruised to second place, with Salah’s assist-client Edin Dzeko top of the scoring charts with 29 goals in 37 games. The instigator of much of Roma’s fluidity under Luciano Spalletti, Salah drew the attention of Liverpool, and they signed the right-winger for a record £36.9m in June 2017 on a five-year-deal.
Just how good has Mo Salah been since joining Liverpool?
What can one say about Salah at Liverpool that’s not already been said before? You likely know how good he is, it’s hard to ignore 142 goals in 226 Premier League games. In his seven seasons in England now, the wing wizard has certainly come back to haunt Chelsea.
Up there with the world’s elite, the Egyptian has not only become a fine ambassador for Liverpool, but also for his country. On Merseyside and Nile-side, the ‘Egyptian King’ is close to a deity and after his Italian foray between 2015-17 – he re-approached the Premier League while just realising the true depths of his powers.
At the time of writing, and after a trailblazing 2017/18 season of 32 goals – the 5 foot 9 Salah hasn’t had a season that’s been under the 15-goal mark.
So, how much is Salah worth now? Well, amidst the trend of Saudi talent grabbing, Al-Ittihad put in a huge inflated bid of £150m for the winger on transfer deadline day, one that was rejected suggesting the Anfield outfit value him even higher.
The Egyptian stays loyal to the Kop (currently). According to Football Transfers, Salah’s more realistic value sits at €63.4, or £55m.