Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery's reason for snubbing Mo Salah transfer - 'We had doubts'

Unai Emery has explained his decision to pass up the chance to sign Mohamed Salah, revealing the doubts he had about the Egyptian forward.

Since moving to Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017 for a fee of £37million, Salah has been nothing short of phenomenal, netting an impressive 218 goals and providing 96 assists in 361 appearances. The 32-year-old's contributions were pivotal in Liverpool securing their first-ever Premier League title in the 2019/20 season under Jurgen Klopp, where they finished a staggering 18 points clear of Manchester City.

In addition to that league triumph, Salah has hoisted the FA Cup, League Cup, Charity Shield, and the Champions League trophy, while also earning three Premier League Golden Boots and being named Player of the Year in his debut season at Anfield. However, things could have been very different if Emery, during his tenure at PSG, had decided to make a move for Salah while he was still playing for Roma.

Emery reflected on the opportunity to acquire Salah before his Liverpool days, expressing reservations about the player who had a less than stellar spell at Chelsea. In a conversation with talkSPORT back in 2018, Emery confessed: "We spoke about the possibility to sign Salah to Paris Saint-Germain when he was playing at Roma.

"We had some doubts and then he signed for Liverpool and these doubts he has broken at Liverpool. Now, if you are speaking about the five top players in the world, one is Salah," reports the Mirror. Salah began his football journey at Al Mokawloon before transferring to Basel in 2012.

His impressive tally of 20 goals in 79 appearances caught the eye of then Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who secured the promising talent for a cool £11million in January 2014. However, Salah's time at Chelsea was underwhelming, with only 19 appearances for the west London club and loan stints at Fiorentina and Roma.

READ MORE: Arsenal drop triple injury update as Mikel Arteta faces anxious wait for Liverpool

READ MORE: Arsenal have a player to sign who is becoming impossible to ignore

After impressing in Serie A, he became a permanent member of the Roma squad in 2016. Yet, it was Klopp who saw something in Salah that Mourinho had missed, bringing him to Anfield just a year later. The rest, as they say, is history.

After hanging up his boots in 2004, Emery embarked on his managerial career with Lorca Deportivo, moving on to manage clubs such as Almeira, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and PSG. At PSG, he clinched two Coupe de Frances, Coupe de la Ligues, and Throphees des Champions each, along with a Ligue 1 title in the 2017/18 season.

In 2018, Emery made the switch to Arsenal, but his tenure lasted only one season before being replaced by Mikel Arteta. After leaving the Gunners, Emery spent two years at Villarreal before making a return to the Premier League with Aston Villa.

The strategist impressively guided the Villains to a fourth-place finish last season, and is currently performing miracles in the ongoing campaign with aspirations of even contending for the title. They're also thriving in the Champions League.

The 52-year-old will undoubtedly be keenly watching his former team's match this afternoon (Sunday 27th October) as they welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium. Liverpool have been in exceptional form so far this season, consistently vying with Manchester City for the Premier League's top position.

They've secured seven victories from their initial eight matches, effortlessly defeating teams like Manchester United and Chelsea. Their campaign so far has only one stain - a surprising 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest earlier in the season, where they failed to counter Callum Hudson-Odoi's late goal.

Arsenal, on the other hand, will aim to close the gap with the Reds following a respectable start to their own season. Currently, they have accrued 17 points to Liverpool's 21, meaning a win today won't allow them to overtake their opponents in the standings.

Join the football.london Arsenal WhatsApp channel

Join our Arsenal WhatsApp channel and get all the latest breaking news, opinion, podcasts and in-depth stories from football.london's dedicated Arsenal writers straight to your phone!

By following this free service you will be the first to know the news from the Emirates Stadium as it happens, when it happens.

To join our dedicated Arsenal channel, all you have to do is click this link and you can join thousands of others following our Gunners coverage!

If you're curious, you can check out our privacy policy here.