Mohamed Salah

[WhiskeyJar 377]

Rumours have it that this is a done deal.

Article from the Mirror detailing his playing style:

 

With the arrival of the January transfer window, Brendan Rodgers will be looking to build on the strong start to the season with a signing or two at Liverpool.

 

And one name he is continually linked with is Basel youngster Mohamed Salah.

 

But is he any good? Would he fit into to Rodgers' system at Liverpool?

Here’s Ross Dunbar with everything you need to know about the 21-year-old:

 

Salah has been on the radar of some English and German clubs for well over a year.

In fact, the option was on the table for the Egypt international to leave Switzerland over the summer, but Champions League football and the chance to add to his medal haul at Basel eventually convinced him to stay at the club.

 

Salah’s demand for Champions League football will be a crucial selling point for any of his admirers this month or next summer.

 

The sad events in the Port Said stadium riot in January 2012 forced the Egyptian Premier League into shutdown mode and after impressing for Egypt’s U23 side – in a friendly against Basel, funnily enough – he signed for the Swiss side in June 2012.

 

With little time for transition into Swiss football following the departure of Xherdan Shaqiri to Bayern Munich, Salah has learned the hard way. Without speaking anything but Arabic, he let his football do the talking.

Goals against Chelsea and Tottenham in the UEFA Europa League last season made others sit-up and take notice of the Egyptian; both clubs even sent scouts to St-Jakob’s Park to watch Salah in domestic action.

 

Goal man: Mohamed Salah scores for Basel against Tottenham in the Europa League

Julian Finney

 

But this season, Salah has grown in self-confidence, stepping up to the plate in a lacklustre performance against Ludogorets Razgrad to send FC Basel into the Champions League group stages.

At Chelsea, in one of the club’s most memorable triumphs, Salah was excellent, linking with the midfield to keep possession in tight areas, but also demonstrating his class when in key areas of the park.

He’s the new... Franck Ribery (sort of)

Quite hard to compare - he's not necessarily a winger – but he has similar traits to Franck Ribery, on the opposite side of the pitch.

Strengths

Despite playing notably wider than most attacking forwards – those who aren’t wingers – he has the intelligence to find space, while playing in an inverted style on to his left-foot, and he is willing to come out wide to get the ball.

Salah is a very quick runner off the ball, but he’s yet to convert that extra yard of pace into his game when in possession.

 

But sharp decision-making and movement is key to the Egyptian’s overall game and Salah has superb composure in-front of goal.

 

He rarely does boring tap-ins either, finishing intricate moves with conviction and as seen against Chelsea, he's especially clinical when presented with a chance on his left-side.

Weaknesses

Salah himself considers his heading ability as his biggest weakness.

 

Mohamed Salah: Play like an Egyptian

Francis Bompard

 

His talents are there for all to see, but he can go hiding at times, if his side aren’t dominating the match. That’s the nature of his style, though, leaving him isolated when not brought enough into the play.

How would he fit into the Liverpool team?

If Liverpool can guarantee Champions League football for the young Egyptian, then Anfield could be a perfect destination for him. An interchanging forward line with Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Mohamed Salah would make the Kop buzz with excitement.

The key thing, though, will be guaranteed football in Europe’s Premier club competition.

Interest is strong from Germany. Schalke 04 could do much worse than snap him up, but Borussia Monchengladbach – assuming the Foals secure fourth – could be an attractive destination.

Gladbach’s Swiss coach Lucien Favre has also been sniffing around FC Basel’s prime talents, including Valentin Stocker.

Did you know?

His coach Murat Yakin has compared Salah’s raw pace to that of Olympic sprinting champion Usain Bolt.

 

[WhiskeyJar 377]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHEaET1gwWE[/YOUTUBE] 

[Russ Atmosphere 6,336]

Maybe you should wait until Mohamed comes to the mountain.

[Fi! 9]

Hope he learnt some english in his days in Basel. If not it is petty hard to start performing immediately.

[Jonjo Baldy 18]

Looks like a similar sort of player to Osama Assaidi, so he will be loaned out next season without playing a game for us.

[Russ Atmosphere 6,336]

Looks like a similar sort of player to Osama Assaidi, so he will be loaned out next season without playing a game for us.

Well they're both African. /similarities

[Adebisi 781]

The Egyptian Messi.

[index1000 371]

Looks like a similar sort of player to Osama Assaidi, so he will be loaned out next season without playing a game for us.

i wish Dave would fucking loan you out... is there a Swansea way

[Bobby Hundreds 5,457]

Hope he's not an extremist radical or squad player.

[Gym Beglin 1,428]

Paulie Dangerously saying he can see him sat at the game today, along with Matic.

 

 

Neg him until the site melts.

[Red Banjo 1,342]

I've heard he's already signed a 28 year contract.

[liverpoolsno9 1,099]

My mate has just called me from The Albert, Matic & Salah are in there.

[Red Banjo 1,342]

Can't be true. I've just had a jagerbucca with them both in The Sandon

[TheHowieLama 7,711]

As long as he is ok playing back up for Sterling I am in.

[J-V 2,504]

My mate has just called me from The Albert, Matic & Salah are in there.

 

 

I've just seen them go into Stamford Bridge with Si and Cundy.

[liverpoolsno9 1,099]

They're doing a crawl down the road, they're in the Oaky now.

[robbiefowler9 325]

I'm hearing from my mate who works in air traffic control. Apparently the Babelcopter has crashed, killing all those onboard.

 

My mate's mate who works in forensics has identified the bodies from their dental records: Vidal, Messi, Hummels, Montoya, Contreau and Heskey.

[Babb'sBurstNad 7,921]

I'm hearing from my mate who works in air traffic control. Apparently the Babelcopter has crashed, killing all those onboard.

 

My mate's mate who works in forensics has identified the bodies from their dental records: Vidal, Messi, Hummels, Montoya, Contreau and Heskey.

 

That's not Heskey's body, he switched dental records and rigged the chopper. It was almost the perfect crime...

[SCOUSE TAPAS 519]

Still think we wont sign him and we will get Tello on loan.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Played well tonight.

[Anubis 12,529]

That's not Heskey's body, he switched dental records and rigged the chopper. It was almost the perfect crime...

 

He's currently sat in Barca's dressing room wearing Messi's shirt.

[liverpoolsno9 1,099]

One of the posters on a Barca forum said that Heskey was spotted sitting in the Presidential suite at the Barca game this afternoon.

[celeryBADboy 13]

Rumours Starting that United have agreed a deal for Salah

[Hand Shandy 2,466]

On Twitter?

[Frankenhooker 947]

Rumours Starting that United have agreed a deal for Salah

Yeah, originating from Twitter. Twitter is a farce, people often make shit up, sometimes even creating alter egos, just to try and enforce their bullshit.