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Mohamed Salah could be the perfect signing for Liverpool

David Nugent in Editorial, English Premier League 23 Jun 2017

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Former Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah will be playing in the Premier League again next season after joining Liverpool

Liverpool were active in the transfer market on Thursday, spending an initial fee of £34.3million to sign Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah from Italian club Roma.

The deal had been a long time coming, as the Reds have reportedly been in negotiations with the Giallorossi for the last few weeks. From the outside looking Salah could to prove to be the perfect signing for the Reds.

Liverpool lack pace without Sadio Mane

When Liverpool lost Senegalese winger Sadio Mane to the Africa Cup of Nations and then injury last season the team lacked pace. Salah is a player that can provide that, whether playing on the right wing or in the number ten role as he did last season for Roma.

He will provide mobility, pace and a good technical ability. The thought of Salah and Mane in the same team will be more than enough to frightening opposition defences to death. Boss Jurgen Klopp likes to play counter-attacking football, so Salah will fit right in.

What will be interesting to see is where the Egyptian will play for the Reds. An attacking trio of Salah, Mane and Philippe Coutinho behind probable frontman Roberto Firmino is a tasty prospect.

I can see Salah and Mane playing on the flanks and causing havoc, allowing Coutinho the central role to be the playmaker.

Salah has now matured since his Chelsea days

Of course, next season will not be the first time Salah has played in the Premier League. Salah spent two seasons at Chelsea but spent his second campaign on loan at Fiorentina and then Roma.

In his first season, the youngster at the time made 13 Premier League appearances, scoring two goals for the Blues. He failed to nail down a starting spot at Stamford Bridge and eventually moved on to Italy on a permanent basis.

His time in Italy has proven more fruitful. Last season the 25-year-old scored 15 goals and produced 11 assists in Serie A. His consistency had not gone unnoticed and the Reds were being linked with a move for the winger as far back as January.

When he arrived at Chelsea, Salah was a youngster and as the man has said himself, he is now more mature as a player and seemingly as a person. He was an exciting young talent at Chelsea.

However, his thirst for playing first-team football took him away from Stamford Bridge and to Italy. He has developed well in the Italian capital. The winger now looks like a player that is capable of performing well in the English top-flight. It looks like he is returning to England at the right point of his career.

Liverpool needs more quality to challenge next season

The signing of Mohamed Salah needs to be just the start for Liverpool this summer. The teams that finished around them last season in the table will be strengthening heavily this summer. The Reds cannot afford to stand still.

Jurgen Klopp and the club’s hierarchy need to be active in seeking out quality players that will improve the team and the squad for next season. One of the main positions that needs filling is at left back. Last season utility player James Milner filled manfully, but the Reds need a natural full-back to play in the position.

The Reds have also been credited with an interest in prolific Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette. There has been talk of the Merseysiders strengthening at centre-back, with Burnley defender Michael Keane supposedly interesting the Reds.

No matter what happens, Klopp needs to improve his squad this summer. The Reds are currently the fifth favourites to finish in the top four this season at odds of 10/11. That means that the bookies believe that Liverpool will not have enough quality to finish in the top-four next season.

The one signing Liverpool have made, for me anyway, will prove to be a good one. He will fit right into the Reds style of play and give the team that all-important pace on the counter-attack.

They now just need to go out and build on that signing. If not they could struggle to clinch a Champions League spot once again next season.

Will Mohamed Salah be a good signing for Liverpool?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent


David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The experienced writer has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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