Salah doesn't respond to Fiorentina offer, Viola will attempt to "force" old deal

The big Fiorentina story yesterday - other than Babacar renewing - was that this whole Mohammed Salah mess was going to be resolved today after Andrea Della Valle handed Salah's agent a huge offer, with the expectation of a response within 24 hours. Well, that deadline has come and gone, with no word arriving from Salah or his people.

The Viola have already paid Chelsea the 1 million Euro to extend the Egyptian forward's loan spell in Florence, but the interest of other clubs and Salah's wish for a bump in salary complicated the deal. With Salah neither accepting (nor refusing) Fiorentina's best offer, the Viola management is rumored by many sources - including Sky - to now be interested in enforcing the "old deal" that they had made with Chelsea, with no improved salary for the Egyptian.

The legality of this is highly questionable. If this was an 18-month fixed loan, why in the world was there all this drama in the first place? If this wasn't a fixed 18 month loan, and Fiorentina (as it now appears) have always needed the player's consent to extend his loan in Florence, then there is no contractual way for the club to do what is rumored: schedule him for his medical and retreat at Moena regardless of Salah officially reconfirming with the club.

While Fiorentina will supposedly try to "consider his previous contract tied to the extension of the loan to be valid," (Di Marzio) that may be impossible if Salah has returned to being legally just a Chelsea player. To add into the mix, I personally wouldn't be surprised if Salah has said nothing to Fiorentina because he is in contact with Chelsea about another club's offer.

In summary, no one really knows what's going on, but everyone knows that it is bad. After the similarly unclear and drawn-out affair with Vincenzo Montella that resulted in his firing, then the protracted process in hiring Paulo Sousa, the Fiorentina faithful are sick of the lack of transparency and lengthy waits associated with what seem like straightforward but important club affairs. Hopefully this situation can be cleared up, and soon.