Why Barcelona should revive their interest in Mohamed Salah
A report from Express back in September 2020 stated that FC Barcelona are interested in signing Liverpool star Mohamed Salah. However, no move materialised and the Egyptian talisman stayed at Liverpool at the end of the summer transfer window.
Profile
Born in June 1992, Mohamed Salah started his senior professional career at Egyptian club El Mokawloon in 2009. He spent three seasons there before moving to Switzerland when FC Basel signed him in 2012.
Salah had 20 goals and 17 assists in the one and a half seasons he spent with the Swiss club. This caught the eye of Premier League giants Chelsea, who signed the then highly-rated youngster in January 2014.
He could never really make his mark at Chelsea and two subsequent loans to Serie A sides followed. Apart from playing for Fiorentina on loan in 2015, it was his loan spell at AS Roma in the same year which made the world take notice of him.
Salah scored 14 goals and assisted 6 times in his 34 Serie A matches in his first season at loan at AS Roma. He earned a permanent move to Roma in 2016. After a year, he signed for Liverpool in 2017, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Barcelona need the superstar factor of Mohamed Salah
Barcelona are in dire need of quality wingers at the club. While Antoine Griezmann has played as a winger during his time at Real Sociedad, he has taken a more central role at Barcelona.
Lionel Messi is not getting any younger and will turn 34 next year. The new kids on the block, Ansu Fati and Trincao, are still in their early years and will take a while to reach their physical prime.
On top of it, the injury history of big-money signing Ousmane Dembele is highly worrying. In such a situation, an established player like Mohamed Salah will fit perfectly in a Barcelona team that has underperformed in the La Liga this season as they sit in 9th spot.
Salah has an astounding record at Liverpool, with whom he won the Premier League and UEFA Champions League in the past one and a half years. He has netted 107 goals and 44 assists in his 171 appearances for the Reds.
From winning the Premier League Golden Boot by scoring a record number of goals to scoring 10 goals in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League season, Salah has passed all the tests he’s been put to in the unforgiving English Premier League. On top of it, the Egyptian is a world-famous footballer.
His status is matched by the wages he is being paid at Liverpool. He is said to be the 34th highest-paid athlete in the world in 2020. While that may be a hurdle in Barcelona’s possible pursuit of Salah, Ronald Koeman would know that quality does not come cheap.
Verdict
With the amount that Barcelona have come to pay for underperforming attackers in recent years, anything they pay for Mohamed Salah would seem worth the risk. Salah has proven his consistency but the wages and transfer fee might be the biggest hurdle that arises in any possible deal.
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Barcelona have felt the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic like any other top club. But at 28, Mohamed Salah has a lot of years left at the top. If Barcelona ever wanted to sign the Egyptian, this seems like the ideal time.
