Chelsea announced on the 23rd on January that they came to an agreement with Swiss club FC Basel to bring Mohamed Salah to Stamford Bridge for a fee on around £11 million. The 21-year-old Egyptian midfielder who has been labelled the ‘Egyptian Messi’ has scored 3 goals past the Blues since their first meeting last May and has been one of the breakout players in the Champions League this season.
The midfielder scored 10 goals in all competitions for Basel before his departure and 4 goals in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for his country but Egypt ultimately did not qualify for the competition. Salah was also being chased by Liverpool but ultimately rejected the Reds for Jose Mourinho’s side.
An Egyptian playing in the Premier League is nothing new. Former Ajax striker Mido also plied his trade in the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic but failed to reach the dizzying heights he had achieved with the Eredivise club. However Chelsea fans need not fret about Salah doing the same thing. Salah clearly has more talent than Mido scoring 17 times in 27 appearances for Egypt while Mido managed just 19 in 51 games.
The Most Promising African Talent of the Year winner recovered possession an impressive 44 times in the Champions League this campaign while completing 7 successful tackles and making 6 interceptions. Salah is also capable of playing a defensive game which would make him an even bigger asset to Chelsea who have not lost a single home game this season.
The former El Mokawloon player is also blessed with a terrifying pace which will make him a huge threat to any opposition as he demonstrated against Chelsea where he ghosted into the box and scored goals. At Liverpool he would have got a guaranteed starting role in the midfield along with the dynamic Phillipe Coutinho.
Brendan Rodgers in unconvinced with Blues loanee Victor Moses and would have greatly benefited from a player of Salah’s caliber. Jose Mourinho will not press him into action immediately and may bring him on as a substitute in order to ease him into Chelsea’s system. Salah will be on the bench for a majority of this season but will have a much bigger role to play next season. Mourinho may use him in the Champions League though as the young Egyptian has proved himself on that stage but besides that can only hope for a start in the FA Cup games.
Now comes the big question. Will Salah be able to replace Juan Mata? I think that the midfielder is perfectly capable of doing that. While Salah may not have as big an impact as Mata did in his first season he will surely do it in the near future. Salah is a much more versatile player than the Spaniard and is capable of playing on both flanks as well as operating as an attacking midfielder.
Mata was never impressive in wide positions while Salah seems to thrive in that role. Salah’s blistering place can make him a game changer for Chelsea as he is capable of opening up the opposition with his trickery. The Egypt international can operate along side Oscar, the player who was responsible for Mata’s ouster at Chelsea, making the duo quite a frightful combo.
Salah will be a success for Chelsea in the long run and could join past Mourinho signings like Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Ricardo Carvalho in becoming club legends. Whats more is that Salah was acquired for just £11 million and could become one of the biggest bargains of the January transfer window. Chelsea have got the perfect replacement for Manchester United bound Juan Mata.