Zenit lead chase for Basel’s Salah

Zenit St Petersburg have emerged as strong favourites to sign Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah from FC Basel, reports Izvestia.

The 21-year-old forward is widely tipped to leave his current employers for greener pastures in January, and he reportedly prefers a switch to English Premier League.

However, while Manchester United and Liverpool remain keen, they are not willing to offer more than €7 million for the highly rated footballer.

Meanwhile, Zenit are ready to go up to €12 million, which has seen them move to pole position with Basel obviously hoping to sell their star player to the highest bidder.

Mohamed Salah exploded onto the big stage over the last year or so, and he was especially impressive during club’s European campaign.

While scoring 4 goals in 18 league appearances this term, the Egyptian has netted 5 times in 10 Champions League outings, but he couldn’t help the national team qualify for the 2014 World Cup despite notching 6 goals during the qualifying campaign.