EPL: Unai Emery reveals why he turned down chance to sign Salah

Arsenal manager, Unai Emery, has revealed that he turned down the chance to sign Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah, while at Paris Saint- Germain due to “doubts”.

The decision came while Salah was plying his trade at Roma, where he spent 12 months on loan and a further year on a permanent deal.

Salah went on to join Liverpool for a then club-record £36 million (€46m), which could rise by £7m due to a series of add-ons and netted 44 times in his maiden campaign at Anfield.

That form has continued into the 2018/2019 campaign, with the 26-year-old having found the net 15 times for the Reds, who lead the Premier League table at the halfway stage.

Emery will come face-to-face with the player he rejected when Liverpool host Arsenal on Saturday.

“We spoke about the possibility of signing Salah to Paris Saint-Germain when he was playing at Roma.

“We had some concerns and then he signed for Liverpool [in June 2017]. These concerns have gone.

“Now if you are speaking about the five top players in the world, one is Salah.

“Today I can say to you, if we were to sign him, we would be signing a player in the top five in the world,” Emery said according to Goal.

Asked specifically about his worries, Emery added: “How he can take his performances into a big team, for example, PSG.”