Pallotta said Salah’s exceptional numbers were a revelation. “The reason is probably because we utilised him differently than Liverpool have. They figured out the best way to utilise him,” Pallotta said.
“At the time, we had him as a winger and you got (Edin) Dzeko in the middle and Dzeko’s scoring 36 goals himself last year, so it’s not like we didn’t have someone in there tearing up the league last year. Where I’m surprised, is how great he (Salah) is finishing... now you get the ball near his feet and it just seems like he’s figured a way to put it in the net.”
Liverpool reportedly paid 34mn euros ($41.5mn) to sign Salah, who returned to England two and a half years after leaving Chelsea following an unproductive 12-month spell in London. Pallotta said the deal for the Egypt international, who was named Player of the Year by England’s Professional Footballers’ Association, was a bargain for Liverpool.
“When you look at it now, you can say it’s an unbelievable bargain,” Pallotta said. “The issue at the time was that when (director of football) Monchi came in, Salah wanted to leave, he had a year left on his contract so in another year you’d get nothing. He wanted to go back (to the Premier League) and prove himself, which he certainly has done.”
Leipzig’s Forsberg banned for rest of season
RB Leipzig will be without playmaker Emil Forsberg in their battle for a Champions League spot in the remaining three Bundesliga matches after he was banned following a red card, the German Football Association said yesterday.
The World Cup-bound Sweden midfielder was handed a three-game suspension after being sent off in Leipzig’s 5-2 home loss to Hoffenheim on Saturday for hitting an opponent in the neck as he tried to break free from a challenge.
Leipzig, last season’s surprise runners-up, only have a slim chance of a top-four finish, lying in sixth place on 47 points, four behind Bayer Leverkusen in fourth. The top four clubs qualify for the lucrative Champions League group stage. Leipzig travel to struggling Mainz 05 this week before playing VfL Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin.
Argentine Biglia’s World Cup in doubt after back injury
AC Milan midfielder Lucas Biglia could miss the World Cup this summer with Argentina after suffering a severe back injury during the Italian club’s defeat to Benevento at the weekend. The 32-year-old was forced off the pitch after 72 minutes in Milan’s shock defeat to 10-man Benevento and the club confirmed Biglia has fractured two vertebrae in his back.
The former Anderlecht midfielder moved to the San Siro this season on a 17-million-euro deal after four years with Serie A rivals Lazio.
Germany lodges bid to host Euro 2024 football
Germany handed in its formal bid to host the 2024 European football championships yesterday, firing the gun on a race with the only other contender Turkey. German Football Federation president Reinhard Grindel was accompanied by Germany’s 2014 World Cup-winning captain Philipp Lahm, the bid ambassador, when the papers were handed in at UEFA headquarters in Nyon.
The now-retired Lahm said: “I played in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and I’m sure that we will once again feel that great enthusiasm and create a new spirit of solidarity at Euro 2024. We are a cosmopolitan organiser and we have modern stadiums and good infrastructure. Football is at home in our country.”
Turkish officials are expected to lodge their bid tomorrow. The host nation will be chosen by UEFA’s Executive Committee on September 27. Germany last hosted a Euro in 1988 when the country was still divided into East and West. The Netherlands beat the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final. The next Euro, in 2020, will take place in 12 cities across Europe.
Leeds United plan to tour crisis-hit Myanmar sparks criticism
Leeds United will play two friendlies in Myanmar next month as the Championship side looks to build a fanbase in the troubled Southeast Asian country. The tour, which will also see Leeds hold football clinics and PR visits to landmarks including Yangon’s Shwedagon pagoda,already stirred controversy.
Myanmar is in the eye of a storm of criticism over its treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority, around 700,000 of whom have been driven into Bangladesh since August last year in what the UN says amounts to “ethnic cleansing”.
But that has not deterred the end-of-season tour by the storied Yorkshire club, who are currently mid-table in English football’s second tier. In a statement the club said it will play a Myanmar All-Star IX on May 9 in Yangon, then a game against the national team two days later in Mandalay.
Amnesty International was quick to criticise the move. Leeds were relegated from the English Premier League in 2004 and suffered years of financial woes. The club has since struggled to gain promotion back to the top flight.