Mohamed Salah and Chelsea cleared by Court of Arbitration as Fiorentina appeal is rejected

New Liverpool signing Mohamed Salah and former employers Chelsea have both been cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) following a complaint from Fiorentina that concerned the Egyptian winger's switch to AS Roma back in August 2015.

After failing to impress in English football following a transfer from FC Basel, Salah spent the 2014-15 campaign on loan at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. La Viola later claimed to have agreed to extend that arrangement by a further year and complained to Fifa that his return to Chelsea and subsequent loan-move to their Serie A rivals, which contained an option to buy, constituted a breach of contract.

The protest was rejected by world football's governing body in June 2016 and Fiorentina's appeal to Cas has now been similarly dismissed. The Florence-based club were supposedly seeking €32m (£28m, $36.5m) in compensation.

"CAS has dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decision issued by the FIFA dispute resolution chamber on May 26, 2016 (FIFA DRC) in which Fiorentina's claim for compensation of Euros 32 million was rejected," a Cas statement read.

"The CAS panel found that the player did not breach the employment agreement by returning to Chelsea FC after June 30, 2015 and that Chelsea FC did not induce the player to terminate the employment agreement without just cause. Accordingly, it dismissed the appeal and confirmed the FIFA DRC decision."

Salah continued to rebuild his reputation at Roma after an encouraging season with Fiorentina, scoring 34 goals in 83 appearances and making a permanent switch to the Italian capital last August.

Evidently not deterred by his previous struggles in the Premier League, Liverpool saw fit to make the 25-year-old their record signing earlier this month in a deal worth an initial £36.9m that could rise to £43.9m depending on various add-ons.

"I'm very excited to be here. I'm very happy," Salah said after completing that switch to Merseyside. "I will give 100 per cent and give everything for the club. I really want to win something for this club.

"We have a great team and very good players. I was watching the games last year and everyone was giving 100 per cent to win something. Everyone can see the coach gives everything. I hope to see that together we can give everything to win something for the club, for the supporters and for us."