Mo Salah nearly made a shock return to Chelsea before signing new deal with Liverpool

Mohamed Salah reportedly could have re-joined Chelsea this summer had he not signed his contract extension with Liverpool.

On Friday, the Reds shockingly announced that Salah had penned a new three-year deal with the club, worth a club-record £400,000-a-week, ending months of speculation surrounding the Egyptian’s future.

The prolific winger had just a year left on his Liverpool deal and contract negotiations had frequently stalled, with Salah said to be unsatisfied with the wages club owners FSG were offering.

After the sale of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich last month, it was unlikely that Liverpool would let another star forward depart but, according to The Sun, interest from Chelsea is what prompted Jurgen Klopp’s side into giving in to Salah’s demands.

New Blues owner Todd Boehly is keen to make an impact in his first summer at Stamford Bridge and has long wanted to acquire several marquee signings, with former Liverpool forward Raheem Sterling set to join from Manchester City.

Richarlison was also linked before his move from Everton to Tottenham, while Leeds winger Raphinha and Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo are also heavily linked.

But Boehly had also lined up Salah as a potential signing, which would have set the 30-year-old up for a sensational return to West London, eight years after his last game for the club.

Salah moved to Chelsea from Basel in 2014 but made just 13 Premier League appearances, scoring twice, before being loaned out to Fiorentina and eventually sold to Roma in 2016.

He was publicly criticised by then-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho and was largely dubbed a flop prior to his return to England via Liverpool.

At Anfield he has scored 156 goals and made 63 assists in 254 games, winning the