Premier League Deadline Day Tottenham sign Toby Alderweireld on transfer deadline day Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool sign players on final day of summer transfer window Mustafiz Parsa ‘Hasn’t performed for Saudi Arabian football and neither has the Saudi national team,’ former Nigeria international Tony Ubani said Salah has failed to deliver for Liverpool’s record signing, Sadio Mané. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Football round-up: Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Man Utd takes £31m off Man City’s bank balance
There has been much debate this season about why the Premier League is too defensive, yet almost no one mentioned a factor that has undoubtedly been significant: it is far harder to score goals in the top division. With a single goal per game fewer than the lowest team in the division, every goal now carries a heavy price tag. Clubs prioritise keeping games tight instead of keeping goals coming. Despite this, there are others who still get the edge: now is an underrated time to buy.
Romelu Lukaku, unlike many signings in the league, has been sensational for Manchester United this season. But it is another player who now stands as the shining beacon of the enduring power of transfer deadline day. Liverpool’s record signing, Sadio Mané, has failed to deliver for Liverpool’s record signing. Salah has failed to deliver for the Egyptian international’s country, having failed to deliver for the club. Sadio Mané was signed from Southampton for £34m by Liverpool, on the back of some exceptional form of his in England last season. So why has Mané been largely responsible for the failure of this deadline day signing, in the middle of England’s most successful decade?
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His fellow countryman Mohammed Salah, more widely known as “Mo”, was widely hailed as one of the best forwards in Europe after scoring 44 goals for Roma last season. Earlier this summer, a source close to the player revealed: “Mo is on track to improve his goals-per-game ratio in England to what he achieved at Roma last season.”
Salah’s contribution this season, and his obvious potential to return to the form of his two seasons at Roma, have done little to answer the questions that hang over his most expensive transfer in British football. However, the questions – for he is that scrutinised, despite being one of the best strikers in the world – should not be about his ability to deliver. They should be about a transfer deadline that, while much debated at the time, was not particularly controversial. It was, perhaps inevitably, bargained down with the introduction of Coutinho, but was overlooked because of the promise of the next few hours. The price was a lot less for Salah.
By signing Salah there was little doubt that Klopp thought he had the potential to become a key player for the club. His impact this season has, for the most part, been muted. The decision to bench Salah twice this weekend has not gone down well among his supporters, and his acceptance of a second-half cameo in the 3-0 defeat at Southampton did little to allay the understandable fears.
Nonetheless, with six goals in his past four matches, he remains an excellent asset for the club. Yet as a consequence of what has transpired over the past few months, Salah is now linked to bigger clubs than ever. He is one of several players from this summer’s transfer window likely to be pursued this week by clubs looking to replace the player who has been signed to replace them. Is it fair to write him off, and thinks he would be attractive to other top sides, or is he the most underrated player in the Premier League history?