Mohamed Salah has perhaps been one of the best ever signings in Premier League history.
The former Chelsea flop was snapped up by Liverpool in 2017, having made himself indispensable to Serie A side Roma. Following a haul of 34 goals and 22 assists in 84 games for the Italian club, the Reds parted with £34m to bring him to Anfield.
A few eyebrows may have been raised, given that he had played just 19 times for Chelsea and was perhaps a Stamford Bridge flop.
However, he has repaid their faith and then some.
Across 144 games for the Reds, he has scored 91 goals and registered 37 assists. That is 128 goal involvements, at a rate of 0.8 per game.
And it equates to £373,626-per-goal that Salah has scored, or £256,625-per-goal-involvement.
That is quite simply astonishing value.
And it was the overtures of sporting director Michael Edwards, chief scout Barry Hunter, and head of scouting and recruitment Dave Fallows, that ultimately convinced Klopp that he should swoop for the Egypt international, per The Liverpool Echo. They believed he would become a superstar at Anfield and so it has proved.
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He has won back-to-back Premier League Golden Boots in 2017-18 and 2018-19, was voted the Player of the Season in 17-18, came third in the UEFA Men’s Player of the Year award in 2018, behind only Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo, and has even won the Puskas Award for a sumptuous strike against Everton in a Merseyside derby.
And those are just the individual awards. He scored in the Champions League final win over Tottenham Hotspur last season and has 16 league goals to his name this season as Liverpool career towards their first ever Premier League title. Only Jamie Vardy and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have scored more goals this term.
When one compares the value for money he is providing with the costs of the modern transfer market, it has to be said that he is one of the best signings in Premier League history, let alone solely Liverpool’s.
Salah has emerged as one of the finest players in world football since his arrival from Roma and there is surely more to come.
Meanwhile, this man is one of Liverpool’s worst ever signings!