'Intrigued' - Mohamed Salah considered shock move to Premier League rivals | OneFootball

Before putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract at Liverpool, Mohamed Salah and his representatives considered a shock return to Chelsea, a report has claimed.

Salah has spent much of the season in contractual limbo, running down a deal which was set to expire on 30 June. After months of negotiations and several pointed public comments from the player himself, Liverpool belatedly secured Salah's services until 2027.

In the months leading up to the official announcement of his renewal, the Egyptian forward was bombarded with lucrative offers from across the globe. One Saudi Pro League side supposedly promised to make Salah the second-best paid player on the planet.

During this period of uncertainty at the start of 2025, shortly after Salah described the current campaign as his "last year" at Liverpool, there was "intrigue" in a move to Chelsea, The Athletic state.

Salah was only ever afforded ten starts during his two-and-a-half years on Chelsea's books. Despite impressive loan spells in Serie A, the Blues agreed to sell the underwhelming recruit to Roma at a loss in 2016. The Athletic claims that Salah "felt as though he still had something to prove at Stamford Bridge".

Mohamed Salah only scored two goals for Chelsea in 19 appearances / Clive Mason/GettyImages

The forward's long-term representative, Ramy Abbas Issa, was reportedly in favour of his client staying in the Premier League as a move to a division outside the European elite would have dented his client's sponsorship agreements. Salah is thought to have bluntly rejected the possibility of joining either Manchester City or Manchester United, leaving the door briefly open to an unlikely Chelsea return.

Even though Salah was heading towards free agency and could negotiate with foreign clubs from 1 January onwards, no official discussions with Chelsea could have taken place until May.

It's unclear whether Chelsea would have abandoned their youth-centric model to snap up Salah - although co-owner Todd Boehly's previous interest in Cristiano Ronaldo before his Manchester United departure suggests that it is not an entirely inflexible transfer policy.