Mohamed Salah has spent a year in the shadows at Chelsea. With his future at the Blues reportedly hanging in the balance, could the loan move to Fiorentina reveal his true talent?
The diminutive winger, a 22-year-old Egyptian, has only made eighteen senior appearances for Chelsea. It is fair to say that he hasn’t impressed José Mourinho, who has taken the decision to give him playing time elsewhere. But has the “Special One” got his assessment of the player right?
What first catches the eye when watching him play is that he is ferociously quick. He was playing for Swiss champions Basel when I saw him for the first time at White Hart Lane. He single handedly destroyed Spurs that night, causing huge amounts of problems for the defence. His pace and direct running style really set him apart from others on the pitch, including Gareth Bale. I had never heard of him before that night, but I knew he would be destined for better things. In the return leg, he scored and Basel subsequently went through by virtue of penalties.
By this time, he was linked with a move away to clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and future employers Chelsea. A relatively cheap £11 million was enough to prise him away and take him to West London. Joining a team of world class players, it would have always been hard for him to walk straight into the team; the only player to have done that who comes to mind is Eden Hazard, who is possibly amongst the top five players in the world right now.
I do think that he can be a success in the Premier League. His raw pace is unbelievable, and pace is an attribute which seems to be more important than any other for a winger these days. If you have the speed and willingness to run at defenders, you will always cause problems. He may not be as tricky as Hazard, but he is easily just as quick.
He is also proven at international level, having made 35 appearances for the Egpyt senior team, scoring a whopping 20 times. That is a very impressive return, on the biggest stage, for a winger. For the sake of a quick comparison, Hazard has played 53 times for Belgium but has only scored six times. Of course, this is only a basic comparison and it’s clear that Hazard is the better player, but surely someone who scores 20 times from 35 games for his national side deserves more of a chance.
Maybe this is all part of Mourinho’s plan. He isn’t afraid of being ruthless. Just ask André Schürrle, a world cup winner with Germany. He has recently been unceremoniously shipped off to Wolfsburg. Only time will tell with Salah. He is only young, but surely with the right kind of playing time he can develop into a top player. It would be good to see him back in the Premiership: after all, who doesn’t like seeing speedy, tricky wingers beating defenders?
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