LONDON: Roma sporting director Monchi has conceded that Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah had been sold on the cheap to Liverpool for €40 million ($49 million) before “the Neymar effect” transformed the market.
“To understand this sale you have to understand two things. Firstly, it was made before the Neymar effect which revolutionized the transfer market,” Monchi said.
Brazilian striker Neymar’s world record €222 million move from Barcelona to Paris St.Germain last August started a chain reaction. French forward Ousmane Dembele subsequently moved from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona in a deal worth €145 million, with Brazilian Philippe Coutinho moving to Barcelona from Liverpool for €160 million in January.
“We also had to sell him (Salah) before June 30 (because of Financial Fair Play constraints),” Monchi continued.
“Those who know a little about business know that it’s like having the Sword of Damocles over your head.”
“So if we take these two elements into account I think that we made a correct sale.
“Now he’s had a incredible season and with the effect of Neymar, Coutinho, Dembele, his value is without a doubt much more,” added the former Sevilla sporting director.
Salah, 25, is the top scorer in the Premier League with 28 goals in 30 matches. In total he has scored 36 in all competitions during his first season at Liverpool.
“He’s very strong,” continued Monchi. “But it’s amazing because he’s returned to a league where he wasn’t successful when he was at Chelsea.
“He found a coach, teammates who trust him, a team that suits him well, which corresponds to his style of play.”
Roma boss admits Mohamed Salah was ‘sold on the cheap’
Roma boss admits Mohamed Salah was ‘sold on the cheap’
Sweden’s Ekstrom takes Dakar stage seven win in Saudi Arabia
- Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah stays top in the car category
WADI AL-DAWASI: Mattias Ekstrom won stage seven of the Dakar Rally on Sunday as the field started the second week in Saudi Arabia with late drama for Toyota’s Henk Lategan while Qatar’s Nasser Al-Attiyah stayed top in the car category.
South African Lategan had looked like taking the stage and overall lead but let both slip through his fingers after the day’s final checkpoint.
Instead, Sweden’s Ekstrom, winner of the prologue in a Ford Raptor, became the first driver in the top car category to take more than one stage this year.
Lategan had led Ekstrom after 417 of 459km from Riyadh to Wadi Al-Dawasir, but finished eight minutes and 35 seconds behind the winner after having to stop for 10 minutes at the 428km mark.
Ekstrom moved up to second overall, four minutes and 47 seconds behind Dacia Sandriders’ five-times Dakar winner Al-Attiyah with Lategan third.
Spaniard Nani Roma was fourth for Ford after being reinstated by stewards late on Saturday’s rest day as winner of stage five and having a one minute and 10 second penalty rescinded.
In the motorcycle category, Australian Daniel Sanders extended his lead over American rival Ricky Brabec to four minutes and 25 seconds with Argentine rider Luciano Benavides a further 15 seconds adrift.
Sanders had been a mere 45 seconds clear after Friday’s sixth stage but Honda’s Brabec finished the 459km stage 10th to the Australian’s fourth.
Argentine Benavides won the stage, his second triumph of the event, in a one-two for the Red Bull KTM factory team with Spaniard Edgar Canet, while Honda’s French challenger Adrien Van Beveren was third.
Monday’s 481km stage eight is the longest of the race with riders and drivers navigating canyons and dunes around Wadi Ad Dawasir.
