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Forwards - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Xherdan Shaqiri (Liverpool) and Breel Embolo (Schalke)
At least one of the forwards in this XI needs no introduction. Mohamed Salah joined Basel in 2012 and played 79 games for them scoring 20 goals before moving elsewhere.
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Salah was close to joining Liverpool in January 2014 before Chelsea swooped in and signed him. The Egyptian struggled in his first stint in the Premier League but found his feet in the Serie A with Fiorentina and Roma.
In 2017, he finally moved to Liverpool and in his first season with the club, he scored 44 goals in 52 games of which 32 were scored in 36 league games. His 32 Premier League goals in 2017/18 is the highest ever by any player in a single 38-game Premier League season.
His record-breaking season with Liverpool earned him numerous individual honours including the PFA, FWA and the Premier League Player of the Season.
Today, Salah is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world.
Salah’s Liverpool teammate, Xherdan Shaqiri, is a product of the Basel academy. He currently plays as a backup to the Egyptian at Liverpool but interestingly, Basel signed Salah to replace Shaqiri when he left the club in 2012.
Shaqiri rose to fame in the 2011/12 season when he played a starring role as Basel knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League. Bayern Munich agreed on a deal in advance to sign the player before the 2012/13 season and in his debut season for the Bavarians, he won the treble albeit playing a squad role.
The Swiss international was close to a move to Liverpool in 2014 before Bayern pulled the plug. A few months later, he moved to Inter Milan before making a shocking move to Stoke City.
Like Salah, Shaqiri also got his move to Liverpool years after a deal fell through.
The final player in this XI, Breel Embolo, is the fifth Basel academy product in this XI, the seventh Swiss international in this XI and the eighth player in this XI to leave Basel and directly join a Bundesliga club.
Embolo is a versatile forward who was born in Cameroon but raised in Switzerland. He opted to play for his adopted nation instead of his country of birth.
He scored 31 goals in 91 games for Basel as a teenager before following the well-trodden path to the Bundesliga. His debut season with Schalke ended prematurely due to an injury, but he’s fit now and will be hoping to fire an all cylinders this season.
Honourable mention - Mohamed Elyounoussi (Southampton)
