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54 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 JUNE 2015 Sport FOOTBALL Fiorentina make 'insane' offer to Chelsea for Mohamed Salah Fiorentina confirm they have made an "insane" offer for loanee Mohamed Salah, who must give them an answer by June 30 or return to Chelsea SINCE arriving in January on loan from the Premier League champions, the Egyptian has been in impressive form scoring nine goals during his six-month stint with the Viola. Although the Serie A club have an option to extend the winger's loan for another year, the Italians also have a clause in which they can sign the player permanently for around £12.5million. Ultimately Salah has the final say on his future and is considering his next move with Juventus and Tottenham also interested, while Inter Milan are reportedly willing to pay Salah £1.9million a year. However, Fiorentina are keen to capture Salah, with the club's di- rector Vincenzo Guerini alluding to the lengths the Viola are willing to go to. "I tell the fans that the club made an insane offer to Salah," he said. "If any player, not just Salah, turned down a proposal like that, then it's best he doesn't stay at Fiorentina. However, I think Salah will accept. "He made a huge impact with us, so it's normal that he should receive calls from elsewhere. He wants to earn more, but Fiorentina made a truly important proposal." Sources in Italy suggest the Flor- ence club have offered more than £2million per season, plus per- formance-related bonuses and are confident the winger could make a decision this weekend, before he is due to return to Chelsea on July 1. Mohamed Salah U-21 Euro - Portugal thrash Germany in Euro U21s semi-finals Luis Figo and Rui Costa may have stumbled in the Under-21 European Championship final 21 years ago, but it will take a lot to stop Portugal's current crop from triumphing if their mauling of favourites Germany is anything to go by WHAT was supposed to be an intriguing semi-final battle be- tween the tournament's bright- est lights ended in a one-sided masterclass from Rui Jorge's side at the Ander Stadium. Boasting a three-goal ad- vantage by half time, Portugal showed little let-up and bounded into their second ever Under-21s final with a 5-0 win as Germany fell to their heaviest ever com- petitive defeat at this age group. The current Portuguese crop certainly look well-placed to go one better than the class of 1994 in Tuesday's Prague finale, where Sweden or Denmark await. Jorge's side had already hit the post by the time Bernardo Silva rif led home the opener in Olomouc, with Ricardo and Ivan Cavaleiro adding gloss to the Group B winners' half-time advantage. Joao Mario added another seconds after the restart and Ricardo Horta grabbed the fifth as Germany's hopes of a second Under-21s crown in six years went up in smoke, making England's 1-0 defeat to the Por- tuguese look a whole lot more respectable. They dominated from the outset, recovering impressively from Tiago Ilori's last-minute withdrawal and hitting the post in the 15th minute. Man-of-the-match William Carvalho played a fine pass down the right f lank, with winger Ricardo cutting back and squaring for captain Sergio Oliveira to hit a low strike which came back off goal frame. A wayward Johannes Geis free-kick was the best Germany could muster by the time Portu- gal turned their dominance into a deserved 25th-minute opener. Unsurprisingly Carvalho was involved, starting a move which resulted in Cavaleiro playing a def lected through ball for Silva to rif le past Marc-Andre ter Ste- gen. The Barcelona goalkeeper was soon picking the ball out of his net again, with Silva's corner from the right glanced on for Ricardo to net from close range. Germany attempted to rally and Joshua Kimmich produced a stinging shot that Jose Sa parried into the path of Nico Schulz, only for the winger to hammer over. The Portugal goalkeeper did better when stopping a fierce Amin Younes strike at the end of a first half which would soon get worse for Horst Hrubesch's men. Ricardo's cross all too easily found Mario at the back post, with the Sporting midfielder's cutback expertly thumped home by Cavaleiro. The stoppage-time goal was followed up a minute into the second half, with Silva and Ricardo involved before Mario struck home via a def lection. There was a slightly concern- ing moment as Silva limped off after 50 minutes, but it did lit- tle to change the way this match was going. Horta wasted a glorious chance for a fifth but made no mistake in the 71st minute, turning Joao Cancelo's cross past Ter Stegen. Leonardo Bittencourt ensured things would get worse for Hru- besch's side, with the substitute foolishly collecting two book- ings within 15 minutes of his introduction - although the damage by that point had been done. Bernardo Silva of Portugal (R) celebrates scoring with his teammates during the UEFA Under 21 European Championship 2015 semi final football match between Portugal and Germany