Fiorentina director Daniele Pradè gave the background to Mo Salah’s arrival from Chelsea and complimented Norberto Neto.
January signing Salah has scored six goals in seven games, including a brace in tonight’s 2-1 Coppa Italia victory at Juventus.
“He’s a strong player who is giving us great satisfaction, immediately settled into the squad and already the team relies on him,” Pradè told Rai Sport.
Fiorentina director Daniele Pradè gave the background to Mo Salah’s arrival from Chelsea and complimented Norberto Neto.
January signing Salah has scored six goals in seven games, including a brace in tonight’s 2-1 Coppa Italia victory at Juventus.
“He’s a strong player who is giving us great satisfaction, immediately settled into the squad and already the team relies on him,” Pradè told Rai Sport.
“He scored an incredible goal running for 70 metres. It was like when you’re a kid, putting a cross forward for yourself and then running on to it.”
Salah had also been linked with Roma and Inter, but Fiorentina swooped as part of the Juan Guillermo Cuadrado deal.
“Up until January 27 Cuadrado had a buy-out clause. At that moment we had to find an alternative, Chelsea had this strong player, we did well to choose and sign him.
“The move is our biggest economic move of January, but also our best one on a technical level. The squad has put itself at Salah’s disposal and he is working for the team, so they are getting the best out of each other.”
Salah appears to be a whole new player compared to his Chelsea days, but Pradè notes it’s also an issue of confidence and consistency.
“There is one very important thing, as Salah had decisive performances with Basel in the Champions League.
“We didn’t want to make the same mistakes as in the past, such as with Anderson, so we wanted to sign a player who would settle into our style of attacking football.”
Neto was again decisive after returning to the starting XI due to Ciprian Tatarusanu’s injury, despite being frozen out in a contract dispute.
“When players pick a certain path… We tried absolutely everything, but Neto is a closed book. It’s an incredible story, from a goalkeeper who never played to one who gained confidence, but I really don’t see any hope of getting him to sign a new contract.
“We have to compliment Neto as a professional and a man. He came on during a decisive game of the season against Tottenham in a difficult atmosphere and showed his commitment.
“It’s not just an issue of the player at that point, but of how the man reacts psychologically.”