Former Black Stars defender Samuel Inkoom has stated that he was instrumental in bringing Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah to Europe for his first professional stay with Swiss club FC Basel.
Between 2012 and 2014, the Liverpool star, who is also the Egyptian national team captain, played for FC Basel, making 47 appearances and scoring 9 goals.
Speaking on Peace FM, the former Black Stars right back described how, after watching the Liverpool striker in training against the Black Stars, he relayed a message from his Sporting Director to him.
“I recommended Mo Salah for FC Basel,” he said.
“I used to wear the number 22 jersey when the Black Stars went to Egypt for a game, and we used to train with the team that Mo Salah played in, alongside former Ghanaian striker Eric Bekoe.”
“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 noticing Mo Salah’s speed in training against us, asked me if I could speak to him on his behalf, and that was the end of it!” He expressed an interest in playing in Europe.”
When asked if he still keeps in touch with Mohammed Salah, he responded no, but Inkoom spoke to Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri, who was with the Under-17 team at FC Basel and played with Mo Salah at Liverpool between 2018 and 2021.
“I used to speak to Xherdan Shaqiri when he was with Liverpool and occasionally told him to remind Mohammed how he got to play in Europe.”
Inkoom has 44 Black Stars appearances and 1 goal.
