Arsenal boss Unai Emery has revealed he turned down the chance to sign Mohamed Salah while at Paris Saint-Germain.
Salah was still playing for Roma at the time of PSG’s interest. He spent two seasons with the Serie A club and scored 34 goals in 83 games before moving to Liverpool in 2017 for around £36 million.
Why did Emery turn down Salah? Five key things to know
- Unai Emery has admitted turning down the chance to sign Mohamed Salah for PSG when the Egyptian played for Roma.
- Salah scored 34 goals in 83 games during his time with the Italian club.
- Emery revealed he ‘had concerns’ about Salah’s ability to step up at a ‘big team’.
- The Spaniard has admitted he was wrong about the Liverpool forward, who has scored 59 goals since joining the club in 2017.
- Emery believes Salah is among the top five players in the world.
The Egyptian has been scintillating for the Reds, netting 59 goals in 78 appearances so far and helping the club to the 2018 Champions League final. He also set a new single-season record by scoring 32 goals last season, more than any player has ever managed in a 38-game Premier League campaign.
However, Emery has admitted it could have been very different for Salah, with PSG once exploring the possibility of signing the 26-year-old.
“We spoke about the possibility of signing Salah to Paris Saint-Germain when he was playing at Roma,” Emery said.
“We had some concerns and then he signed for Liverpool [in June 2017]. These concerns have gone.”
Emery went on to describe Salah as one of the top five players in the world right now, adding that his only concern about signing him was whether or not he could translate his form at a bigger club.
He added: “Now if you are speaking about the five top players in the world, one is Salah.
“Today I can say to you, if we were to sign him, we would be signing a player in the top five in the world.”
And about his concerns surrounding Salah: “How he can take his performances into a big team, for example, PSG?”
“Are you Wenger in disguise!?”
It would appear there is something of a tradition at Arsenal when it comes to turning down world-class players. Arsene Wenger revealed his interest in some of the world’s biggest stars on a number of occasions during his time at the club.
Gareth Bale is just one name that Wenger admitted he could have brought to the Gunners, revealing he turned down the chance to sign the Real Madrid forward in 2007 as he already had Gael Clichy and Ashley Cole at his disposal.
“We didn’t take him as we had Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy and didn’t want another left-back,” admitted Wenger. “I must confess it was a huge mistake as he can play in midfield. He struggled at the start at Tottenham, then they moved him to midfield and he has done exceptionally well.”
The definitive list of players Wenger nearly signed for Arsenal includes such names as Xabi Alonso and Zlatan Ibrahimovic among the names in the team.
There are enough, in fact, to make an XI…
Arsene Wenger's 'almost signed XI' is pretty impressive… 🤐 pic.twitter.com/hynzGj6OXW
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) September 3, 2017
The post Why Unai Emery turned down Mohamed Salah at PSG appeared first on Squawka News.
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