Former Egypt head coach Mahmoud Fayez has opened up about why Jose Mourinho didn’t trust Mohamed Salah during his early Chelsea days.
Salah joined Chelsea in 2014 from Swiss side Basel, but his time in London was short. He struggled for game time before being loaned to Fiorentina and later moving to Roma, where his career took off.
Fayez, who worked under Hector Cuper with the Egyptian national team, shared insights during a podcast, revealing that Salah was mentally affected by his Chelsea struggles.
“When I took over with former Egyptian national team coach Hector Cooper, Salah was not playing for Chelsea,” he said.
“I don’t forget that Salah spoke to Cooper during the first training session, explaining that he is in a bad psychological state because of what is happening with him at Chelsea.”
Fayez added that Cuper reached out to Mourinho, who said Salah didn’t meet his tactical expectations.
“Mourinho explained that Salah was unable to play the required defensive roles in the wing position… He was not as physically strong as he is now.”
