Mohamed Salah: Chelsea sold Liverpool star despite him 'training like Lionel Messi' | OneFootball

Mohamed Salah might just be the best footballer in the world right now.

The Liverpool man has been unplayable in 2021/22 so far, with the Egyptian's latest masterclass coming in the 2-2 draw versus Premier League champions Manchester City last Sunday.

Salah assisted Sadio Mane's opening goal with a brilliant run and pass, before netting one of the finest solo goals the English game has ever seen.

In his nine appearances across all competitions this season, the 29-year-old winger has scored nine times and contributed three assists.

No Premier League player has been involved in more goals this season, with West Ham's Michail Antonio the only other man from the division on double figures with 10 (6 goals, 4 assists).

Salah's form of late makes Chelsea's decision to offload him on a permanent basis way back in 2016 all the more laughable.

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The Egyptian icon joined the Blues in January of 2014 and spent just a year actually playing for the west London club.

Salah was sent on loan to Fiorentina for the latter half of the 2014/15 campaign, before a temporary switch to Roma the following season.

He smashed it at both Italian clubs so it begs the question; why did it go so wrong for him at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho?

Well, it certainly wasn't down to his poor performances in training, because Salah's former Chelsea teammate Filipe Luis once stated in an interview that the winger was "like Lionel Messi" at Cobham.

"It might look like we fell out but I admire him," Luis told The Guardian when discussing his time playing under Mourinho in the English capital.

“I won the league with him. But he didn’t get the best out of me, just as he didn’t with Salah.

“When he went Fiorentina, I said: ‘Why are you going, Momo? This is Chelsea.’ And he said: ‘I need to play.’ I thought: ‘This kid’s good.’

“He never went for money or to win more; he went to show he could play. In training he was like Messi. Really, like Messi. Ask anyone.”

Mourinho not giving Salah enough chances to prove himself in the Chelsea first-team has proven to be an incredibly poor decision.

The Portuguese manager also did the exact same with Kevin De Bruyne during his second spell in charge of the Blues, another call that now looks stupid beyond belief.