AS Roma have confirmed the signing of 23-year-old Mohamed Salah on loan from Chelsea with a view to a permanent transfer next summer. The Egyptian international spent the second half of last season on loan in Serie A with Fiorentina, where he made a massive impact, scoring nine times in 26 appearances.
An outcast to a rejuventation
The club thought that they would be looking for the option to buy the player from the Premier League champions this upcoming season following his huge impact for La Viola. However, Salah’s agent claimed that his client was free to return to Stamford Bridge and then decide where to go next, having already been deemed as an extra to by Blues boss Jose Mourinho.
As a result, even though Fiorentina tried their best to take him away on a permanent deal, Salah has now moved to the Rome and the Stadio Olimpico, for an initial fee of €5 million to right on loan.
Salah joined Chelsea from Basel of Switzerland in January 2014, scoring twice in 19 appearances for the Blues before his loan to Italy in February. He was the first Egyptian to play at Stamford Bridge, but with vast competition to start, regular first-team football became hard to come by.
The future
“I think Roma are one of the biggest clubs in the world and I'm happy to be in this team," he told the Giallorossi's website. ''I think everybody here has ambition and everybody wants to win the title and everybody will give their best to make the fans happy.” He will join the likes of Juan Iturbe, Francesco Totti, Seydou Doumbia, Victor Ibarbo, Mattia Destro and Gervinho among others as they look to contend for the Serie A title.
Salah also has 21 goals in 37 matches for his native Egypt as he looks to be the main star and lead his nation to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.