Yesterday, Mohamed Salah shocked Italian football when he and his lawyers informed the media that he would not be renewing with Fiorentina. With Inter and Juventus interested in him, he decided to re-explore his options.
When Mohamed Salah joined Fiorentina in January, he did so with a clear objective: The Egyptian came to Italy in hopes of reviving his career
following a dismal spell with Chelsea. It was quite fitting that the 23-year-old chose the Renaissance city to accomplish this. The agreement that saw the winger join La Viola was beneficial for all involved parties. Salah would join the Serie A side on a six-month loan deal while Fiorentina possessed an option to extend the deal for another year for €1m. Following his break-out in the months that followed, extending the player for another season was a no-brainer. After Fiorentina communicated their intentions to the former Basel man, he demanded a raise from his usual €2.2m to €3.0. While they didn’t cave in to the winger’s demands, they presented the Chelsea man with an improved and reasonable offer. Salah, however, aware of the interest from both Juventus and Inter, decided against signing with Fiorentina and began pursuing other options. Moreover, the player’s lawyers released a statement yesterday stating that their client would be enacting his veto option and reject the club’s offer. Fiorentina were livid with the player’s decision and released a statement regarding the situation. It goes as follows,
“Regarding the recent developments with Mohamed Salah, ACF Fiorentina, to ensure maximum transparency with the fans, would like to point out the following. The player, through his agent, refused our offer to improve his contract and even went as far as signalling his intention to sign with another club. Moreover, he didn’t even respond to the offer that we sent to him. Considering the situation, we asked our legal team to look into possible courses of action to defend the club’s rights.”
From being the team’s best player to potential legal action being taken against him. How have Mohamed Salah and Fiorentina gotten to this point? After the winger’s first stellar performance for the team, Viola fans quickly forgot all about Juan Cuadrado. Fiorentina appeared to be the perfect fit for Salah and vice-versa. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. That said, six months is a bit too soon for a rupture of this sort to happen between the parties. Many expected Salah to renew with the club but after Italy’s giants came calling, the player quickly reconsidered. While Fiorentina claim to have been wronged, Salah’s entourage believe it is well within their rights to act in this manner as they are believed to possess a veto option. Fiorentina, on the other hand, are furious with the Egyptian and state that he is acting in an illegal fashion.
Fiorentina and Salah: A match made in heaven? …Not quite.
Now, on to the important question. Who is to blame?
Well, it really depends. If there is this so-called veto option inserted in the contract, there is no problem with Salah pursuing different avenues. While it is definitely harsh from the winger to reject the very club that has brought life back to his career, Salah is allowed to do so in pure legal terms. However, this line of thought stems from the presumption that there is a veto option in the contract. Another thing to consider is the reputation of Andrea Della Valle. The Italian businessman has demonstrated his inability to deal with controversial situations and characters in the past and is certainly not blame-free in all this. While Della Valle is claiming to have acted dutifully by offering the winger a new and improved contract, his role in this situation remains to be seen. Look no further than what happened with Vicenzo Montella recently. Fiorentina parted ways with the manager after a disagreement over his contract. In the weeks that followed, Della Valle initiated a smear campaign against his former manager and claimed the relationship ended mostly due to Montella’s doing. Once again we will never know to what extent Della Valle influenced Montella to leave but like the old saying goes, where there’s smoke there’s fire.
If this aforementioned veto option does not exist, on the other hand, then Fiorentina have every right in the world to proceed with legal action. Despite the fact that the logic behind wanting a player who doesn’t want to be at the club is questionable, Salah cannot refuse to play for Fiorentina if there’s a binding contract in place. That said, I highly doubt Salah’s legal team would advise their client to take this course of action without their being such a clause in place. Moreover, with Inter and Juventus reportedly interested in signing the player, one cannot blame him for trying to take the next step in his career. At the moment, Juventus are the undisputed kings of Italian football while Inter are doing their best to return to the top. Fiorentina, on the other hand, have just recently lost their starting goalkeeper to Juventus and have since replaced Montella with Paulo Sousa. In many ways, Inter and Juventus, especially, can be seen as a step up from Fiorentina due to the current instability at the club.
What next for Salah and Fiorentina?
The only plausible next step for both Fiorentina and Salah is to forget about their six months together and move on. No, this is not relationship advice but it still applies perfectly. By taking legal action, Della Valle will unnecessarily tarnish the reputation of his club and potentially deter future players from joining Fiorentina. Furthermore, by moving past the whole Salah fiasco, they can find someone new to lead the team. We must not also forget that Fiorentina have a certain, Giuseppe Rossi on their books. If he is fully fit, he can prove lethal. (it’s a big if though) Often in football, fans forget that no player is bigger than the club.
Salah should follow similar advice and move on as soon as possible. It won’t be easy, however, seeing that he will likely play for another Serie A team according to his agent. All in all, this should show to the rest of Italian football that they should protect themselves in future negotiations.
Back to the initial question: Who is to blame? While Fiorentina are by no means allowed to undertake legal action if there is a veto option, Salah acted in poor taste by not even replying to their offer. So, like in any failed relationship, both parties have to look at themselves and assume some of the blame.
The post Salah-Fiorentina: Who’s To Blame? appeared first on Italian Football Daily.
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