Former Black Stars player Samuel Inkoom has revealed how he played a key role in the transfer of Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah to Europe for his first professional stint with Swiss club FC Basel.
The Liverpool star who is also captain of the Egyptian national team played for FC Basel between 2012 and 2014, making 47 appearances and scoring 9 goals.
Speaking on Peace FM, the former Black Stars right back detailed how he conveyed a message from his Sporting Director to the Liverpool forward after seeing him in training against the Black Stars.
“I recommended Mo Salah for FC Basel,” he narrated.
“I used to wear the Number 22 jersey at the time when the Black Stars travelled to Egypt for a game and it was the team that Mo Salah played, alongside former Ghanaian striker Eric Bekoe, that we used to train with.
“My club FC Basel had a Champions League match against Bayern Munich right after my game for the Black Stars so I came with my Sporting Director who after spotting the speed of Mo Salah in training against us, asked me if I could speak to him on his behalf and I did and that was it! He told me he wanted to play in Europe.”
When asked if he still remains in contact with Mohammed Salah, he said he hadn’t been in touch but Inkoom speaks to Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri, who was with the Under-17 team during his time at FC Basel and played alongside Mo Salah at Liverpool between 2018-2021.
“I used to speak to Shaqiri when he was with Liverpool and occasionally told him to remind Mohammed how he got to play in Europe.”
Inkoom has 44 caps for the Black Stars with 1 goal.
By Nana Afrane Asante
