Emery: I once doubted Salah

ARSENAL manager Unai Emery has remarkably revealed that he passed up the chance to sign Mohamed Salah for former club Paris Saint-Germain because he doubted whether the Egyptian could handle the expectations of a major club. Salah (right) has scored 15 times for Liverpool this season after an outstanding first campaign in which he hit 44 goals after a £34million transfer from Roma in the summer of 2017. At the time, Emery was manager of PSG and Salah was on the radar of the French club. The forward had already endured a doomed period at Chelsea before going to Roma first on loan and then permanently in 2016. Emery explained: ‘We spoke about the possibility to sign Salah to PSG when he was playing at Roma. We had some doubts — and then he signed for Liverpool and these doubts he has broken at Liverpool. The doubts were as to how he can take the performance into one big team. For example like PSG in Paris. But today I can say to you... if you are speaking about the five top players in the world, one is Salah.’

Arsenal were the last Premier League team to take points off Liverpool when the two teams drew at the Emirates Stadium in early November. Since then, Jurgen Klopp’s side have won eight games on the spin to move six points clear at the top. Arsenal are in fifth place and 13 points behind the leaders. And Emery says Liverpool are now the title favourites after Manchester City’s Christmas slip-ups at the hands of Crystal Palace and Leicester. ‘It is a very big surprise how City lost their two last matches,’ he added. ‘It is a surprise for me and I think for everyone. At the moment, Liverpool don’t have mistakes in their matches.’