Salah favours Stamford Bridge switch but deal is not yet done.
Jose Mourinho has admitted long-term Liverpool target Mohamed Salah is not yet a Chelsea player.
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The Blues announced they had agreed a fee with FC Basel for the 21-year-old on Thursday but Reds boss Brendan Rodgers suggested Liverpool could still land the Egyptian ahead of their Premier League rivals, who are yet to agree personal terms with the player or complete a medical.
Mourinho knows full well how deals can be hijacked after Chelsea signed Willian in the summer after the Brazilian had completed a medical at Tottenham.
The Portuguese said Salah’s preference was for a move to West London but admitted the deal was not finalised.
“We know that the player wants to come. He told me personally,” Mourinho told The Guardian.
“Now it’s [personal] terms, the medical that he has to pass probably in Zurich or Lausanne and hopefully he comes. Probably the situation is still open and not closed.”
Chelsea entered the running for Salah after agreeing to sell Juan Mata to Manchester United in a £37m deal and Mourinho admitted the deal for the Basel’s star happened very quickly.
“It was a surprise for us that Juan was leaving,”
“We were not prepared to make a bid or to try to bring a player to replace Juan in the squad so everything happened very, very fast.
“We decided to try to go for Salah. We started from zero; no contacts with the club, no contacts with the player. The first step was an agreement with the club. That situation is done, no more discussions, everything is signed and done subject to the medical, that we didn’t have yet and subject to the player’s desire to join us or not. Now we know he wants [to come].”
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