It is common for players who do not do well in certain clubs and then exploit the change of shirt. A great example of this was in the field during the classic between Liverpool i Chelsea for Day 27 of the Premier League
Mohamed Salah did not live one of his best matches in Liverpool vs. Chelsea, a match that took place at Anfield, however the top scorer, idol and star of Jürgen Klopp’s team, had an unremarkable season on the Stamford Bridge team.
“In training, Salah was like Messi. It’s a shame he didn’t play with him anymore,” Filipe Luis revealed inFlamengo’s left-back and Chelsea striker’s teammate during the 2014-15 season, in an interview with the newspaper Daily mail.
“I think anyone who has known Chelsea knows that, at that time, it was very difficult for him to play. There were players in the position who were doing very well at the club, they had been playing. We even joke that Salah was the Messi of training, because he was doing very well, but at the time of the match he didn’t seem to fit in, ”Oscar noted in an interview with ESPN.com in September.
But why didn’t someone who trained so well get opportunities to play often?
Salah played only 19 official matches with Chelsea. He was a starter in ten of them, but only worked full-time twice. He played 881 minutes, averaging 46 minutes for each game he was on the field. He left the club with just two goals, against Arsenal and Stoke City, both in 2014.
“Salah is very fast, he drives the ball with his feet very fast and he finishes well. They were aspects that caught our attention and made Mourinho want to take him, as it could be important for the group. It was the his first experience in a great European team. He needed time to adapt and mature. When he matured, he moved on, “explained José Morais, José Mourinho’s assistant, in an interview with ESPN in May 2019.
Mourinho has even defended himself from those who accuse him of not taking advantage of Salah’s talent when they worked together at Chelsea.
“This is another injustice that is being talked about. It wasn’t me who sold Salah, it was me who bought Salah. A child came unprepared, mentally unprepared, socially and culturally lost.” said the coach, also on ESPN, in April 2018.
It’s true that the competition at the time was great. Salah, then a 21-year-old boy who had just left Basel, Switzerland, was fighting for a place next to Eden Hazard, Oscar, André Schürrle, Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and many other players with offensive characteristics who were at Chelsea.
The lack of opportunities led to his departure. First for Fiorentina, where he scored nine goals in 36 games and caught the attention of the Rome, Who paid 5 million euros for an assignment for one year. He then acquired it for good for others 15 million euros, Less than 16.2 million disbursed by Chelsea months before.
Mal definitely flourish in Rome, annotating 34 goals in 83 games and being the target of the greed of the major clubs in Europe. Who won the dispute was Liverpool, who paid 42 million euros to sign in 2017.
The recruitment could not have been more successful. In almost four seasons, ‘The Pharaoh’ scored 118 goals and led the team to the Champions League, Club World Cup and Premier League titles, the first after 30 years of fasting. Incredible numbers and performance for someone who walked out the back door of the Chelsea.
“I didn’t play. I didn’t have many chances, but you can see that when I did, I showed that some people were wrong. You can see the difference between today and a year or two ago. When I left the Premier League, I to say I was going to come back and when I had the chance I came back, ”the striker told Sky Sports.
This was his twelfth match of Mal against the Chelsea since he arrived at Liverpool. So far, he has three wins, three draws and five defeats, with only two goals scored.