Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah has revealed his reasons for snubbing a move to Liverpool.
The former Basel player had looked on course for an £11 million switch to the Reds in January 2014, store but instead opted to join the ranks at Stamford Bridge.
And Salah, currently enjoying a season-long loan with Roma, has now revealed that it was thanks to a late intervention from Jose Mourinho that he turned down a move to Merseyside.
“Liverpool had wanted me for a number of months. They had opened talks in October 2013,” he told MBC Masr.
“Negotiations took a long time, because Basel rejected more than one offer.
“They felt the transfer fee was not that high. I was waiting for Liverpool because I really like Liverpool. I was eager to join them.
“But then I received a phone call from Mourinho and that changed everything. He explained the situation to me and told me that he needed me at Chelsea.
“That was one of the main reasons why I joined Chelsea. Mourinho told me that he thought I was a good player and that he wanted me to pick Chelsea.”
Salah went on to make a paltry 19 appearances for the London club and was promptly loaned to Fiorentina last season before making a return to Serie A with Roma in a loan deal which looks set to become permanent this summer.