- Blues owner made academy gaffe
- Salah started with Cairo-based club
- Is a source of pride to all of those back home
WHAT HAPPENED? The Egypt international did spent time at Stamford Bridge between 2014 and 2016, but only after working through the youth ranks in his homeland and bursting onto the European stage at FC Basel. New Blues owner Boehly appears to be unaware of that fact and recently told SALT: “We have one of the best academies in the world. If you look at what our academy has developed, our academy is Mo Salah, Kevin De Bruyne. More recently Tammy Abraham, Reece James, Mason Mount, Trevoh Chalobah.”
WHAT THEY SAID: Understandably, Al Mokawloon - who handed Salah his senior debut - have taken a dim view on Boehly’s comments, with Mohamed Adel Fathi, who sits on the club’s board of directors, responding by saying in a Facebook post: “What the new owner of Chelsea says shows a lack of understanding. Mohamed Salah is a source of pride for the Al Mokawloon Club and Egyptian and Arab football, and we are honoured that he is one of our sons. The whole world knows Salah's career and how he started with us, but it seems that the owner of Chelsea is the only person in the world who is ignorant of this information.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Salah took in 44 appearances for Al Mokawloon across three seasons, with 12 goals recorded during that time.
AND WHAT'S MORE: He went on to spend 18 months in Switzerland before signing for Chelsea in January 2014. He made just 19 appearances for the Blues, with his reputation rebuilt in Italy before returning to English football at Liverpool in 2017 – where he's become a club icon and won the Premier League, Champions League and Golden Boot.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GETTYWHAT NEXT FOR SALAH? The 30-year-old forward has endured a slow start to the 2022-23 campaign but, fresh from committing to a new contract with Liverpool over the summer, will be eager to rediscover his spark when club football resumes after the international break.