Samuel Inkoom, a former defender of the Black Stars, has disclosed that he played a role in recommending Mohamed Salah for his initial professional opportunity in Europe with Swiss club FC Basel.
Salah, who currently represents Liverpool in the Premier League, had a stint with FC Basel from 2012 to 2014, where he made 47 appearances and scored 9 goals before joining Chelsea.
Inkoom revealed that he conveyed a message from his Sporting Director to Salah after witnessing his performance during training sessions against the Black Stars.
During a trip to Egypt for a game, Inkoom, who used to wear the number 22 jersey, trained with the team that included Salah and former Ghanaian striker Eric Bekoe. Following their training sessions, Inkoom’s club FC Basel had a Champions League match against Bayern Munich. Inkoom’s Sporting Director noticed Salah’s impressive speed and asked him if he could speak to Salah on his behalf. Inkoom agreed, and that became the starting point for Salah’s desire to play in Europe.
“I recommended Mo Salah for FC Basel,” Inkoom, who currently plays for Hearts of Oak told Accra-based Peace FM.
“I used to wear the Number 22 jersey at the time when the Black Stars travelled to Egypt for a game and it was the team that Mo Salah played, alongside former Ghanaian striker Eric Bekoe, that we used to train with.
“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 spotting the speed of Mo Salah in training against us, asked me if I could speak to him on his behalf and I did and that was it! He told me he wanted to play in Europe.”
When asked if he remains in contact with Salah, Inkoom mentioned that they haven’t been in touch. However, he revealed that he keeps in touch with Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri, who was part of the Under-17 team during Inkoom’s time at FC Basel. Shaqiri played alongside Salah at Liverpool from 2018 to 2021, and Inkoom occasionally asked Shaqiri to remind Salah of how he got the opportunity to play in Europe.
“I used to speak to Shaqiri when he was with Liverpool and occasionally told him to remind Mohammed how he got to play in Europe.”
Inkoom, who has earned 44 caps for the Black Stars and scored 1 goal, played a pivotal role in Salah’s early journey in European football.
