Tottenham plotting move for Chelsea winger Mohamed Salah

Tottenham are plotting a move to Chelsea’s out-of-favour winger Mohamed Salah despite the Premier League champions’ preference to sell him abroad, the London Evening Standard reports.

Salah spent the latter half of last season on loan at Fiorentina, helping the Serie A side to eliminate Spurs from the Europa League last 32 just as he did with Basel in 2013, and Mauricio Pochettino is keen to have him prowling the touchline at White Hart Lane next term.

The Egyptian international is reportedly reluctant to return to Fiorentina where he played a starring role as the Florence club achieved a fourth-placed finish and reached two cup semi-finals, weighing in with nine goals and three assists in 26 games since his arrival in January.

That has alerted Spurs to the 23-year-old’s potential availability, though it’s thought that Blues boss Jose Mourinho would seek to block any potential move across to North London.

It’s understood Mourinho would prefer to offload Salah to a foreign club rather than allow him to leave Stamford Bridge, where he is surplus to requirements, for a domestic and local rival.

As a result, Spurs could face competition from Inter Milan for Salah’s signature, whilst Fiorentina still eager to complete a permanent deal for a player Chelsea paid £11 million in January 2014.