Chelsea confirm Mohamed Salah move to Roma includes option to buy on permanent deal

Mohamed Salah has completed his move to AS Roma on a season-long loan that also includes the option to make things permanent at any point during the forthcoming 2015-16 campaign, Chelsea confirmed on 6 August.

The Egyptian winger has failed to impose himself in the Premier League since arriving at Stamford Bridge from FC Basel in January 2014 and he spent the final three months of last season with Fiorentina.

Salah was expected to remain with La Viola for the duration of an 18-month agreement, yet the club reacted angrily and sought compensation when he decided against returning to Stadio Artemio Franchi amid reported interest from rivals Inter.

A switch to the San Siro never materialised, though, and speculation regarding an imminent move to Roma gathered pace following comments attributed to agent Ramy Abbas Issa regarding a scheduled medical.

The rumour mill was further fuelled when Salah was briefly pictured training with his new teammates earlier this week and the 23-year-old changed the details of his personal Twitter profile to include his location as Italy, updated his bio to include "plays for As Ro..." and also posted the word "done" to his followers in apparent reference to his professional situation.

Such social media tinkering left Chelsea with little option but to officially announce the deal, although they neglected to mention the set price at which Roma can make the agreement permanent.

"Chelsea Football Club has agreed terms with AS Roma for the season-long loan of Mohamed Salah," the club revealed on their official website. "The winger will spend the 2015-16 campaign on loan at the Stadio Olimpico and the agreement includes an option to purchase at any point during the season."

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho made it plainly obvious during pre-season that Salah had no future at the west London club and he did not join up with their tour of the United States for fixtures against the New York Red Bulls, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. He did not feature during the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal either, nor the recent home friendly against Fiorentina.

Roma finished second behind reigning champions Juventus in Serie A last term and the former El Mokawloon prodigy has already expressed his excitement at joining another side with serious title aspirations. "I think Roma are one of the biggest clubs in the world and I'm happy to be in this team," he told Roma TV according to Goal, who believe the club have paid an initial €5m to secure the loan. "I think everybody here has ambition and everybody wants to win the title."