Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SALAH SO RIGHT TO GO
Hazard praises Chelsea reject Mo declaring: He’s proved Blues wrong
EDEN HAZARD says new Liverpool sensation Mohamed Salah was right to quit Chelsea – and admits he’d have done the same in the Egyptian’s shoes.
Salah has since proven his class at Roma and Fiorentina and is now the leading scorer in the Premier League with Liverpool.
Hazard (right), who will come face to face with Salah at Anfield tomorrow evening, says the 25-year-old was unlikely to get a proper chance at Stamford Bridge.
“When you are not playing at a club you need to go,” the Belgian star said. “You need a chance and he took his chance at Fiorentina, so he did everything that you have to do when you are not playing. If I am not playing, I want to go.”
Salah signed for the Reds for £34million in June. He has since netted nine Premier League goals and a total of 15 in 21 games in all competitions this season.
It is a far cry from his nightmare spell at Stamford Bridge three years ago under Jose Mourinho.
The Portuguese had swooped to pinch Salah from under the noses of Liverpool – only for the former Basel trainee to find himself a fringe player in London. “He didn’t get the chance.” added Hazard. “Maybe because of the manager, maybe because of the players, I don’t know. I remember it was me, Willian, Oscar, and Juan Mata also, so for him it was not easy. But he’s a top player for sure.”
With his contribution so far for Liverpool, Salah is already a key member of one of the most devastating forward lines in the country.
Hazard, who scored as Chelsea beat Qarabag to reach the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday night, added: “At
Chelsea we started to talk together. Now he is still my friend.
“In training at Chelsea he did everything so we know the quality he has.
“Liverpool are not only about Salah – they have a lot of good players. But, yeah, it is always good to play against a friend.”
Hazard has himself been among the goals with six in his last seven games after a delayed start to the season following ankle surgery.
And he insisted confidence is high within the Chelsea squad despite a midweek 2,500-mile trip back to London from Azerbaijan that saw the Blues players arrive at dawn yesterday morning.
“A lot of players didn’t play against Qarabag. I played only 60 minutes so we should be fresh.”