Fiorentina have made an offer, described as insane by a club director, to Mohamed Salah in an attempt to convince him to stay with the Serie A club and reject the chance to join Internazionale. Salah spent the second half of last season in Florence on loan from Chelsea as part of the deal that took Juan Cuadrado to Stamford Bridge, making a big impression, and the Italian club would like to make the deal permanent.
Salah, who made six Premier League starts for Chelsea after joining from Basel 18 months ago in an £11m deal, has been holding out for improved personal terms at Fiorentina, with the 23-year-old believed to be asking for in excess of £2m a year.
Desperate to hold on to Salah, who scored nine goals during his loan spell and was something of a revelation, Fiorentina appear to have met the winger’s demands, with reports in Italy suggesting that the player has been offered €3m (£2.1m) a year plus bonuses.
“I tell the fans that the club has made an insane offer to Salah,” Vincenzo Guerini, a Fiorentina director, said. “If any player, not just Salah, turned down a proposal like that, then it’s best he doesn’t stay at Fiorentina. However, I think Salah will accept. He made a huge impact with us, so it’s normal that he should receive calls from elsewhere. He wants to earn more, but Fiorentina made a truly important proposal.”
Fiorentina had an option to extend Salah’s loan for another season but there is also a clause in the contract – a fee of €16m has been suggested – that would allow them to make the deal permanent. Salah is surplus to requirements at Chelsea and made it clear when he moved to Italy that he had no intention of returning to Stamford Bridge.
With Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur also linked with the player Fiorentina knew that they had to put forward a financial package capable of turning Salah’s head. Salah is expected to make a decision on his future in the next 48 hours.
