Chelsea have helped Liverpool engineer another Salah situation after £111m snub

Jurgen Klopp may have another Mo Salah situation after being rejected this summer (Image: GETTY) Chelsea may well have placed Liverpool in an identical situation to the one they found themselves in back during the 2018 summer transfer window, in which club icon Mohamed Salah was brought to Anfield. Salah, a summer acquistion from Italian giants Roma, arrived to little fanfare at the time while having his £34million price tag largely scrutinised. Of course, he would go on to become one of the most formidable forwards in the club’s history. Nonetheless, Salah was not actually Liverpool’s first choice or top target during that summer in question. It has been widely documented since that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp had asked about the services of flying German winger Julian Brandt, who was available from Bayer Leverkusen. After learning of a rapidly inflating transfer valuation, the Liverpool board quickly abandoned intention of going for the Germany star, and quickly set down the foundations to the deal of bringing Salah back to the Premier League – where he had featured several years before at none other than Chelsea. Chelsea’s failure to blood Salah into their team would ultimately be Liverpool’s gain later down the line. And now, in unrelated circumstances, the Blues may have once again played a role in helping Klopp unearth a gem – this time with their £115m British record bid for Moises Caicedo. Both clubs fought tooth and nail during the summer window, initally for Romeo Lavia and then briefly for Caicedo; once Liverpool caught wind that a deal for the Ecuadorian may be possible. Liverpool sanctioned an astronomical £111m bid for the defensive midfielder, which was promptly accepted by Brighton. Chelsea, spurred into action and driven by the ego of chief owner Todd Boehly, one upped the deal and completed a £115 deal. As a result, Liverpool brought in cut-price option Wataru Endo from Stuttgart, and Klopp has since invested great time and effort into making Dominik Szoboszlai the darling of his new-look midfield. The Hungarian ace was brought in once Liverpool chiefs realised that Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount was going to opt to join Manchester United for a more lucrative contract, following the expiration of his Stamford Bridge deal. Moises Caicedo has had a tough start since his move to Chelsea (Image: Getty) Since, £60m signing Szoboszlai has made a storming impression on Merseyside, winning a string of Man of the Match awards and scoring his first goal for the club within a few appearances. Mount, in contrast, has struggled at United before picking up an injury. The 22-year-old has seamlessly adapted to life at Anfield, and has not once looked out of place at his new club, even with Steven Gerrard’s iconic No.8 on his shirt. Alas, should the Hungarian rise from strength to strength under Klopp’s guidance, much like Salah did, Chelsea will have had an influential role in the matter. For two great rival clubs, the London-based establishment sure cannot help given their northern nemesis a helping hand.