Former Chelsea midfielder Mohamed Salah will be paying tribute to the victims of Egypt's worst football stadium disaster throughout his time at Fiorentina, after being unveiled by the Serie A club on Friday.

Salah joined Vincenzo Montella's side on a six-month loan deal earlier this week as Fiorentina fan favourite, Juan Cuadrado, moved the other way on a four-and-a-half-year deal worth 27m euros.

While 22-year-old Salah said he hopes to someday receive the same kind of "warmth" the Colombian international was given from La Viola fans during his time in Florence, one of the Egyptian international's first decisions was to pick his shirt number.

It was No. 74, and commemorates the number of fans killed in the Port Said stadium massacre on February 1, 2012 during a match between Egyptian sides Al Ahly and El Masry.

"I wanted to commemorate the victims of the Port Said massacre," said Salah in comments on Fiorentina's club website.

Salah is not the first Egyptian to play in Serie A, former international striker Mido enduring a largely fruitless brief spell at Roma in 2004 before moving to Tottenham.

Salah, who made only three appearances for Chelsea this season, is set to return to the Premier League club at the end of the season. But he wil be working to make his move permanent.

"I hope to remain in Florence for a long time," said Salah. "I'm ready for selection by the coach and I'll try to be ready for Sunday."

Fiorentina, who host Atalanta, sit seventh in Serie A, 18 points behind leaders and champions Juventus but only seven behind Napoli in the third and last Champions League qualifying spot.