Chelsea confirmed today that they have reached an agreement with FC Basel for the transfer of Mohamed Salah, who will become the West London club’s second signing of the window if he agrees personal terms and passes a medical.
The 21-year-old is well known to Blues fans and manager Jose Mourinho as they witnessed Salah score twice in two games against them in the Champions League this season and put in performances of quality each time.
It is looking increasingly likely that Juan Mata will be leaving Stamford Bridge this winter and Kevin De Bruyne has already left, so it perhaps is of no surprise that we have signed a replacement as we’re accustomed to collecting attacking midfielders at Chelsea anyway.
Most reports suggest that Chelsea will pay £11 million for the Egyptian which is a fairly modest fee. Today’s news may have come as a shock to Liverpool fans as they have been strongly linked with the player for a number of weeks now but it seems Mourinho has gazumped Brendan Rodgers to Salah’s signature.
It was thought that Salah would prefer a move to Liverpool because of the likelier promise of regular football but perhaps the pull of Chelsea is too strong, just as it was for Willian when he moved to Chelsea after having a medical with Tottenham in the summer.
Salah has scored around 10 goals in all competitions for Basel so far this season and will hopefully prove to be a valuable member of Mourinho’s squad should the move be finalised as expected.
Source: ChelseaFC.com
