Chelsea Transfer News: Blues Complete Mohamed Salah Signing

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of Liverpool target Mohamed Salah from FC Basel on Sunday.

The winger was strongly linked with a move to Anfield this month, but snubbed the chance to join the Merseyside club in order to sign for the Stamford Bridge outfit. The Europa League winners had earlier reached an agreement for the transfer of the player to Chelsea.

However, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers had still hopes of stealing Salah from Chelsea, despite the Blues reaching an agreement with Basel. The 21-year-old signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with the Blues.

A statement on Chelsea's website read: "Chelsea Football Club today completed the signing of Mohamed Salah from FC Basel. The Egyptian international signed a five-and-a-half-year contract and will wear the number 15 shirt."

Meanwhile, the player has expressed his delight after completing his move to the west London club.

"I'm very happy to sign for Chelsea, such a big club in the world. I hope I can make the Chelsea supporters happy and have a good career at the club for many years to come," Salah told Chelsea's official website.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that his side were forced to enter the transfer market in signing Salah after the Blues allowed Juan Mata to join their league rivals Manchester United. The Premier League champions signed the Spain international for a club-record transfer fee of £37.1m this month.

"The Salah deal is done. We had to react to one deal which was not something we were expecting. When we decided it was a big opportunity for Juan, and also for us in terms of the unique deal presented to us, we had to react," Mourinho explained.

"We spoke with Basel and the player, and they were, as you can see, available. Nothing was done with other clubs, so we felt free to do that," the former Real Madrid manager concluded.