Even when Chelsea aren’t trying, they are winning in the transfer market as they watch Egyptian left/right-forward Mohamed Salah, 22, raise his transfer stock to the nth level on loan at Fiorentina.

Initially viewed as a squad-filler, Salah has the potential to be another big-money transfer away from Chelsea. 

 

Liverpool Chelsea

Salah proved he could play against Premier League teams having scored for Basel against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League.

Entering the 2014 January transfer window, Liverpool were planning to sign Salah from Basel, per ESPN.

It was speculated that if Liverpool were to sign Salah, it would enable Raheem Sterling to be loaned out to Swansea City, per Gary Jacob at The Times.

Though, Liverpool assistant manager Colin Pascoe quashed the theory.

“We just laughed at that [rumour],” Pascoe said, per James Pearce at the Liverpool Echo. “Raheem has been brilliant this season. He won’t be going anywhere.”

• Jordon Ibe → Birmingham City (loan).
• Sebastian Coates → Nacional (loan).
• Tiago Ilori → Granada (loan).

Pascoe was right as Sterling avoided being one of the Liverpool prospects to be loaned out halfway through the season.

However, Liverpool botching the proposed Salah deal means you will never definitively know if his arrival would have led to Sterling’s loan to Swansea City.

After the Salah deal collapsed, his commitment was questioned by Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre, who went on the public relations offensive.

Unlike Ayre, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was more introspective, perhaps believing he could have brought the best out of Salah, which is what is happening at Fiorentina.

“It’s the construction of the whole deal, not only with [Salah] and the agent but also Basel. It was deemed in this case that we couldn’t do a deal and Chelsea could,” Rodgers said, per Andy Hunter at The Guardian. “If [transfer targets like Salah] end up going to [a rival] club, it is difficult to take.”

Salah‘s agent Sascha Empacher revealed Liverpool’s delaying tactics opened the door for Chelsea.

“[Negotiations with Liverpool] lasted two-and-a-half months—too long,” Empacher said, per David Anderson at the Daily Mirror. “When Chelsea contacted Basel, Salah was happy and took his chance. It was no financial matter.”

Chelsea signing Salah for €15.4/£11 million seemed nefarious because he was a luxury squad player.

It was as if Chelsea feared Salah‘s X-Factor would play a role in Liverpool potentially challenging for the Premier League title. 

Remember, one slip from Steven Gerrard against Chelsea effectively cost Liverpool the Premier League, handing the title to Manchester City.

What if Salah was subbed on for Liverpool, used his blazing speed and single-handedly beat Chelsea? 

It really does reinforce the crux of ElAlonso’s video The Butterfly Effect.

 

Fiorentina Freebie

Salah averaging 40.8 minutes per Premier League game and only appearing as a substitute three times this season strengthens the cynical claim of Chelsea buying him to keep him away from a contending Premier League team. 

Chelsea negotiating with a foreign team, Roma, further indicates Salah was an expendable short-term signing, per David Amoyal at GianlucaDiMarzio.com:

• Proposed deal: Salah moves to Roma on loan with a buyout clause of €17/£12.1 million, which would represent a nominal €1.6/£1.1 million profit for Chelsea.

That was January 23, 2015. 

Eleven days before Fiorentina would finally say no mas on transfer deadline day, allowing Juan Cuadrado to move to Chelsea for €32.7/£23.3 million plus Salah on loan.

Like Nemanja Matic being given away to Benfica which facilitated David Luiz’s transfer to Chelsea in 2011, Salah was an undervalued bargaining chip, per Nima Tavallaey at GianlucaDiMarzio.com:

• Fiorentina pressured Chelsea into paying the rest of Salah‘s salary until the end of this season.
  
• If Fiorentina want to renew Salah‘s loan for next season, it will cost €1 million/£713,557.

Running on to Khouma Babacar’s audacious backheel, Salah outpaced Sassuolo‘s back line and scored in a 3-1 win.

Reading Alberto Gilardino’s flick-on pass, Salah reached the ball first and finished under pressure in a 1-1 draw against Torino.

Taking advantage of Samir Handanovic’s error, Salah pounced and finished excellently with his left foot in a 1-0 win over Inter Milan.

Latching on to a defensive clearance from Jasmin Kurtic, Salah took the ball from inside his half and spear-headed a one-man counter-attack against Juventus.

Veering to the left, Salah struck the ball into the top right corner to score an amazing goal. 

He later scored another after a defensive miscue from Juventus in a 2-1 Coppa Italia win.

Voted by La Gazzetta dello Sport readers as the No. 1 January transfer signing so far in Serie A, Salah has been world class, which enhances the reputation of Fiorentina manager Vincenzo Montella.

Not only did Montella sell a mercurial Cuadrado at an inflated transfer fee, Salah is an upgrade, albeit on a short-term basis.

Salah is an incredible component of Fiorentina‘s attack and is at times unstoppable on the fast-break, as illustrated by Omar Momani.

Allowing Salah to play a free-roaming role, Montella is turning the Eygptian into a superstar.

“Salah is in a state of grace and we hope he can continue,” Montella said, per Rai (h/t Enis Koylu at Goal). “Honestly, his immediate impact has gone beyond expectations.”

Right now, Salah > Cuadrado, per OptaPaolo.

 

Another Great Deal For Chelsea?

League Only	Salah Fiorentina 14-15	Salah Chelsea 13-15
Goals/Games	3/5	2/13
Shots Per Goal	2.3	11.5
Shooting Accuracy %	57.1	30.4

The Associated Press (h/t USA Today) reported that Fiorentina can exercise a clause to buy Salah for €20/£14.3 million. 

When Chelsea announced the Salah loan, there was no mention of a buyout clause.

Though, Fiorentina revealed the current “agreement runs until 30 June 2015 with the possibility of extending the [loan] deal for the 2015-16 season and a further option of making the transfer permanent.”

The key phrase is further option, as opposed to an iron-clad buyout clause, which does not give Chelsea the right to contest if Fiorentina stump up the money.

Should this be the case, Salah will be easy money for Chelsea.

Why?

You surmise Chelsea will deny Fiorentina‘s loan-renewal option in order to sell Salah to the highest bidder in the summer transfer window.

If Salah continues his meteoric form, he will rival the €39.2/£28 million fee Chelsea received when selling Romelu Lukaku to Everton in 2014.

Salah could be another transfer win for Chelsea (an inadvertent one).

 

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com. 

from Bleacher Report – Front Page http://ift.tt/1wDST3A
via IFTTT http://ift.tt/eA8V8J