Back in 2015, Mohamed Salah was seeing out the season with Fiorentina in Italy when a message came through from his parent club Chelsea. The Londoners had just sealed the Premier League title, and manager Jose Mourinho was keen to reward his players for their efforts. Even if, as was the case with Salah, they had featured for merely half-an-hour over three substitute appearances. “Not all of them will get an official medal,” said Mourinho of his squad members. “But yes, we are going to buy medals. “Schurrle, Salah, Schwarzer, Lewis Baker... all of them who started the season with us. They have been invited to the last match and the Player of the Year dinner. They belong to us.” Salah belonged to Chelsea but never truly integrated under Mourinho, the man who brought him to Stamford Bridge for £11million from Basel in January 2014. It was a time fraught with uncertainty for the attacker, despite an encouraging start that saw him claim two goals and two assists in 10 appearances during his first few months at the club. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now One of those appearances, of course, came in Liverpool's 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea that ultimately wrenched the Premier League title out of their grasp and handed it to Manchester City. The summer saw speculation Salah may not even be around Stamford Bridge at all, with claims he could be forced to return to Egypt to serve military service having had his allowance to travel from the country withdrawn after his registration on a required education program was rescinded. The situation was swiftly resolved, the government no doubt keen to avoid negative publicity surrounding the man dubbed “the Egyptian Messi”. Not that Chelsea had seen such evidence of that, the player shipped off to Fiorentina for six months in January 2015, then moving to Roma on an initial season-long loan before switching permanently, a deal concluded more than 18 months after his last appearance in the Premier League. Salah didn't look back. Now, with Liverpool welcoming Chelsea once again on Sunday, the 26-year-old takes on the club where he admits his experience has made him determined to succeed at Anfield. “Three years ago I didn’t play much, but since day one back in England I wanted to show what I can do. I think I’m doing well,” Salah told FourFourTwo magazine last year. With Salah having reached 50 top-flight goals quicker than any other Liverpool player, and in the hunt to be the Premier League's top scorer for a second successive season, it's fair to say he made the right call. Eden Hazard, his former Chelsea team-mate, hinted why Salah didn't make it at Stamford Bridge. “He is still my friend and we are still in contact,” said Hazard. “He’s a top, top, top player. He did not get his chance at Chelsea – maybe because of the manager, because of the other players? I don’t know.” For his part, Mourinho isn't one for being wise
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Back in 2015, Mohamed Salah was seeing out the season with Fiorentina in Italy when a message came through from his parent club Chelsea. The Londoners had just sealed the Premier League title, and manager Jose Mourinho was keen to reward his players for their efforts. Even if, as was the case with Salah, they had featured for merely half-an-hour over three substitute appearances. “Not all of them will get an official medal,” said Mourinho of his squad members. “But yes, we are going to buy medals. “Schurrle, Salah, Schwarzer, Lewis Baker... all of them who started the season with us. They have been invited to the last match and the Player of the Year dinner. They belong to us.” Salah belonged to Chelsea but never truly integrated under Mourinho, the man who brought him to Stamford Bridge for £11million from Basel in January 2014. It was a time fraught with uncertainty for the attacker, despite an encouraging start that saw him claim two goals and two assists in 10 appearances during his first few months at the club. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8Cancel Play now One of those appearances, of course, came in Liverpool's 2-0 home defeat to Chelsea that ultimately wrenched the Premier League title out of their grasp and handed it to Manchester City. The summer saw speculation Salah may not even be around Stamford Bridge at all, with claims he could be forced to return to Egypt to serve military service having had his allowance to travel from the country withdrawn after his registration on a required education program was rescinded. The situation was swiftly resolved, the government no doubt keen to avoid negative publicity surrounding the man dubbed “the Egyptian Messi”. Not that Chelsea had seen such evidence of that, the player shipped off to Fiorentina for six months in January 2015, then moving to Roma on an initial season-long loan before switching permanently, a deal concluded more than 18 months after his last appearance in the Premier League. Salah didn't look back. Now, with Liverpool welcoming Chelsea once again on Sunday, the 26-year-old takes on the club where he admits his experience has made him determined to succeed at Anfield. “Three years ago I didn’t play much, but since day one back in England I wanted to show what I can do. I think I’m doing well,” Salah told FourFourTwo magazine last year. With Salah having reached 50 top-flight goals quicker than any other Liverpool player, and in the hunt to be the Premier League's top scorer for a second successive season, it's fair to say he made the right call. Eden Hazard, his former Chelsea team-mate, hinted why Salah didn't make it at Stamford Bridge. “He is still my friend and we are still in contact,” said Hazard. “He’s a top, top, top player. He did not get his chance at Chelsea – maybe because of the manager, because of the other players? I don’t know.” For his part, Mourinho isn't one for being wise
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