Mohamed Salah could have re-joined Chelsea this summer had he not signed his contract extension with Liverpool, according to reports.
On Friday, the Reds announced that Salah had penned a new three-year contract with the club, worth a club-record £400,000-a-week, ending months of speculation surrounding his future.
The prolific winger had just a year left on his Liverpool deal and contract talks had frequently stalled, with Salah reported to be unsatisfied with the wages club owners FSG were offering.
After the sale of Sadio Mane to Bayern last month, it was unlikely that Liverpool would let another star forward leave but, according to The Sun, interest from Chelsea is what prompted Klopp’s side into giving in to Salah’s demands.
New Blues owner Todd Boehly is keen to make an impact in his first summer at Stamford Bridge and has long wanted to make several marquee signings, with Raheem Sterling set to join from Manchester City.
Richarlison was also linked before his move from Everton to Tottenham, while Leeds star Raphinha and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo are also heavily linked.
But Boehly had also lined up Salah as a possible signing, which would have set the 30-year-old up for a sensational return to London, eight years after his last game for the club.
Salah moved to Chelsea from Basel in 2014 but played just 13 Premier League games, scoring twice, before being loaned out to Fiorentina and eventually sold to Roma in 2016.
He was publicly criticised by then-Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho and was largely dubbed a flop before his return to England via Liverpool.
At Anfield he has scored 156 goals and made 63 assists in 254 matches, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup, and is now considered to be one of the club’s greatest ever players.
