Liverpool owner John W. Henry was apparently “bitching” about the price he had to pay for PFA Player of the Year Mohamed Salah, according to Roma president James Pollotta.
Salah is enjoying an unbelievable first full season in English football, after joining Liverpool for around £40 million back in August.
The Egyptian winger has scored 31 goals in 33 Premier League appearances, already equalling Luis Suarez’ record for Liverpool goals in a 38-game season.
However, Salah was not seen as guaranteed success when Liverpool purchased him from Roma, following his failed spell at Chelsea.
Liverpool’s top scorer made just 13 appearances for Chelsea over a two year spell at Stamford Bridge before leaving for Serie A.
As Liverpool get ready to face Salah’s former club Roma in the Champions League semi finals tonight, their president, James Pallotta, has been speaking to the media about how the Liverpool owner believed he had paid over the odds for Salah at the time of the deal:
He was sort of bitching a little about, ‘Did we overpay? I think we overpaid.’ And I said, ‘I’ll buy you lunch.
Pallotta now admits that they let Salah go for a bargain price, although he was in a difficult position as Salah was entering the last year of his contract:
When you look at it now, you can say it’s an unbelievable bargain. The issue at the time was that when Monchi [Roma’s sporting director] came in, Salah wanted to leave. He had a year left on his contract so in another year you’d get nothing. He wanted to go back to the Premier League and prove himself, which he certainly has done.
