Is Mohamed Salah really the right man for the job at Liverpool?

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Liverpool have just confirmed the signing of Mohamed Salah from AS Roma for an initial fee of €42 million.

Liverpool unveiled their new player of Thursday as Salah becomes the first Egyptian player to sign for the club. He will take over the No 11 shirt from Roberto Firmino as the Brazilian takes move to the No 9 shirt.

Salah has been a revelation in his past two seasons at Roma. But his club career has been anything but magical. He has gone through a series of ups and downs before finally arriving at the world stage.

Why he was a dud with Chelsea:

Mohamed Salah joined Chelsea FC in the January transfer window of 2014 from Basel for a fee of £11 million. But the Egyptian’s time at the club was anything but rosy. Managing only 13 Premier League appearances over the whole one and a half seasons.

But his lack of game time had nothing to do with the fact that he was an average player. It’s just that Salah had to overcome competitions from the likes of Hazard and Willian. And this proved to be quite an uphill task. And then there was Jose Mourinho. History has it that Mourinho has always been inclined towards a player who has a bit of defensive presence. And that is why more often than not Mourinho would choose Ramirez over Mohamed Salah.

Then in 2014 Mourinho signed Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona. And the arrival of the Spaniard meant that Salah’s Chelsea career was more or less hanging on a tight rope. The ex-Barcelona man’s inclusion to the squad meant that Salah had no other option but to warm the benches. And eventually, Chelsea loaned him off to Florentina on an 18-month contract.

Rediscovering himself at Roma:

At the end of the 2014-15 season, Salah refused to return to Florentina in order to finish his loan term and instead joined Serie A rivals AS Roma. And from here onwards starts the rise of Mohamed Salah to the player we know today.

Mohamed Salah spent two seasons with Roma, one on loan and the other as a permanent player. And in these two seasons, he has successfully turned himself into a strike force. During his time at Roma, Salah had made 83 appearances for the club managing to score 34 goals. 34 goals in 83 games, that too in a league which is not renowned for high scoring games is truly a stand out feet.

What can he provide at Liverpool:

Salah is a player who is versatile and Jurgen Klopp can use him in a series of different positions in the front line. He can play on either wing as well as down the middle.

But apart from all these positional advantages, Salah will bring much-needed support to Sadio Mane. Last season Mane was the gem on Liverpool’s crown. In January this gem left the crown for only a month to play in the AFCON and Liverpool literally handed over their title race. But Klopp must make sure this does not happen again. And with Salah in the team, he will definitely share a lot of burdens, helping Mane breathe a bit.

Jurgen Klopp also has the option to play Salah down the middle and he can be a great partner to Divock Origi. Like Mane, Salah also has a sudden burst of pace and can run great lengths with the ball at his feet.

On paper, Salah is certainly a very versatile player but his success totally depends on Jurgen Klopp and how he uses the Egyptian.

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