Last week we looked at a potential signing that Liverpool could make in the summer transfer window, but today we are actually going deep into the latest confirmed signing, Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah. In the last few days, the odds were shortening as we all waited for the deal to be confirmed, and finally, it happened.
Klopp was looking to bolster his squad with a player like Sadio Mane as the signature signing of last summer was the Reds Player of The Year, and the Liverpool faithful will be happy with anything close to that sort of output.
Liverpool have however broken their transfer record to complete the purchase of the Roma winger as they have dug deep into their pockets to secure him for £36.9m, beating the amount paid for English striker Andy Caroll in this process.
Speaking to Liverpoolfc.com, Salah said: “I’m very excited to be here. I’m very happy. I will give 100% and give everything for the club. I really want to win something for this club.”
But what kind of a player is Mohamed Salah?
The 25-year-old flying Egyptian is a winger, who has been a part of the Roma setup since 2015-16 when the Roma officials were impressed by his loan move to ACF Fiorentina as they sealed the deal from Chelsea for €15 million. Salah contributed in 29 goals last season, setting up 12 and scoring 17.
Salah is a player who will bring out and out pace to this Jurgen Klopp attack, he will primarily play on the right wing as he did at Roma but he is more than capable of switching to the left, playing behind the striker or as Liverpool fans call it, in the ‘Firmino Role’.
A standout aspect of Salah’s game is his free-kick taking ability, many might not know this but along with the lighting pace that Salah offers he is really good on spots kicks too, this would only give the Reds options when there is a situation as they currently do also have Coutinho who isn’t bad at them. As most people know, the main threat Salah offers is his pace and this season he really has terrified Calcio A defenders as he is a very direct runner. As he is this fast and agile on the ball it makes it very difficult for defenders, often results in them giving away fouls in dangerous areas, be it inside the penalty box or outside. Another great positive to his game is that he is really good in providing support to tall Target Men like in the case of Edin Dzeko at Roma, who flourished under his supply. This isn’t Liverpool’s A game but in pressure situations might be handy with them having Divock Origi in the first-team set up too.
Though considering these positives there is a downside to his game which is. Defensive Contribution. The major reason as to why Chelsea sold him. We know that Klopp isn’t as stringent with having his wingers work in defensive transitions compared to attacking transitions as Mourinho is, though this is a side that the Egyptian really has to work upon
Mohamed Salah is a kind of player that Liverpool require due to the simple reason of them having more cover for the squad and adding quality to beef up the squad to take part in the Champions League. This will also raise the quality of the squad to give them a real chance of a title push.
Liverpool have paid Monchi £36.9m for Salah’s services, which is a record transfer for Liverpool, but he could be worth every penny if Klopp has a plan for him and let’s be real, Klopp’s transfer record has been pretty good so far.
Liverpool haven’t had the best of times signing player’s from the Italian league with notable mentions being- Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini, etc. Let’s hope Salah doesn’t perform as the aforementioned!
Liverpool fans, are you excited seeing Salah at Anfield next season?
