Fresh Mohamed Salah transfer claim emerges as superstar 'wanted to leave'

Former Roma sporting director Monchi has acknowledged he was unable to prevent Mohamed Salah's departure to Liverpool during the summer of 2017.

However, the Spanish scout, who has since worked for Aston Villa, has revealed he managed to increase the transfer fee that the current Premier League champion ultimately paid for Egypt's skipper nearly eight years ago.

Monchi was brought to Rome by Giallorossi owner James Pallotta, with his appointment at the Stadio Olimpico receiving widespread praise due to his stellar reputation built during his time at Sevilla. Nevertheless, when Monchi arrived at the club, Salah had already decided on a switch to Anfield, where he would subsequently establish himself as one of the Premier League's all-time greats.

Monchi has now revealed details about the negotiation process with Liverpool, maintaining he secured the optimal price for Salah, who moved to the Reds in June 2017.

"It was a magnificent year [in 2018]" Monchi told Flashscore.

"I insist, after having to sell Salah, [Antonio] Rudiger, and [Leandro] Paredes, that is to say, having to make very important sales, to finish third and semifinalist in the Champions League, I think it was a magnificent success.

"[Selling Salah] was necessary. When I arrived there, Salah was practically sold for 33million euros plus a three million bonus. In the end, he was sold for 55, but there was already a commitment with the player.

"He wanted to leave and the only thing we could do was try to improve the price.

"You have to understand that moment, the sale of Salah was before [Ousmane] Dembele (went to Barcelona for over £100m), before the whole explosion of the football market with crazy sales.

"And, well, I insist, I practically had an agreement between Roma and Liverpool.

"What we did was to push to get as much as possible, because the player already knew he wanted to leave."

Salah currently sits third amongst Liverpool's greatest ever goalscorers with 248 strikes across 411 appearances. He's behind only Roger Hunt (285 goals) and Ian Rush (346 goals).

Both Salah and the Reds will be eager to bounce back to form this Sunday when Manchester United makes the trip to Anfield.

The Egyptian forward has netted 11 times during his previous 13 Premier League encounters with United.

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