Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah confirmed that he was leaving prominent English Premier League club Chelsea on his official Twitter account Thursday.
Salah's comment came a few days after Chelsea's manager Jose Mourinho said on Sunday that the Egyptian winger is going to be allowed to leave Chelsea this season.
"I see his future elsewhere. Either on loan or sold with an offer we are happy to accept. We have five wingers and it is better not to have Salah back,” Mourinho told Chelsea's channel.
The 23-year-old Egyptian footballer joined Chelsea in January 2014 from the Swiss champions Basel but it was reportedly difficult for him to establish himself at Stamford Bridge.
He was later loaned to Fiorentina in January 2015 and went on to have an impressively successful season in which he scored nine goals in 26 appearances in all competitions as Fiorentina finished fourth in the Serie A and made it to the Europa League semifinal.
However, despite the success Salah achieved with Fiorentina, he turned down the offer to make his loan deal more permanent and extend for another year. He chose to remain with his parent club Chelsea instead in a move that was reportedly described by a club official as "insane."
The footballer's refusal caused controversy between Fiorentina and Inter Milan over the last couple of weeks, as Inter Milan reportedly pursued Salah as well. Fiorentina team manager Vincenzo Guerini blamed Inter Milan for his refusal of their offer as he said they interfered with his decision.
Inter Milan's coach, Roberto Mancini, was asked about Salah during a press conference weeks ago and made a joke by saying he hadn't called Salah since he ran out of credit on his mobile phone. In response, Guerini told Italia 7 television he didn't like Mancini's comments calling them "offensive" and "unpleasant."
“Nobody thinks he’s going to suddenly turn up here, but I just want to know what happened. He probably received a scandalous offer. We too proposed a very high wage and could not have done more,” Guerini said, referring to Inter Milan.
Now that Salah is confirmed to be leaving Chelsea, he is reportedly being pursued not just by Inter Milan, but also by AC Milan, AS Roma and even Liverpool.