Farewell to Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s ‘Egyptian king’
Perhaps the full realization of what Mohamed Salah has achieved Liverpool It will only come with time.
But as we prepare to bid farewell on Sunday, there is much to appreciate and admire in the here and now.
There are standards he helped set that come through the club in Salah’s and Liverpool’s quest for greatness.
There are also the records he broke and the trophies his goals brought to Anfield.
First of all, there is the pure joy it brings and the memories it provides.
“HE [Salah] He has set completely new standards for a professional footballer,” Jurgen Klopp told BBC Sport in March. how hard you can work, how much you can invest in recovery, etc.
Klopp was the manager when Liverpool signed the Egyptian from Roma for £34 million in 2017.
The deal had been questioned due to Salah’s previous problems with Chelsea in the Premier League, but those watching him for Liverpool were convinced.
But observers, not even Klopp and everyone involved, could have predicted how Salah would become the greatest player of all time.
The 257 goals he scored with Liverpool jersey put him ahead of names such as Sir Kenny Dalglish, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard. Only Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285) have scored more goals.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Rush said: “Mohamed knew what he had to do to become a Liverpool legend and he took it to a different level.”
“He couldn’t believe how many goals I was scoring. So he said to me: ‘Did you count your goals in training?’
“So he’s got the Scouse sense of humour, too. But it’s not just about the goals; when you look at his assists, he’s the consummate footballer he is.”
A record 119 assists were made.
Salah’s average of a goal and an assist every 94 minutes for Liverpool is astounding. That’s 376 goals in 35,326 minutes of football.
These are the remarkable achievements of a man who started his journey in Nagrig, a village in rural Egypt, and went on to become one of the greatest players of one of the biggest football clubs in the world.
Salah was on the throne at Anfield last year; The club’s ‘Egyptian king’ was determined to extend his reign and celebrated the occasion in royal style. But now the moment of abdication has come a year earlier than planned.
It is not yet clear which club or country Salah will play for next season.
It marks the final page of a defining chapter of his football life at home to Brentford. What a life.
Self-aware, Salah appreciates his superstar status and enjoys what he represents in both the football world and the Arab world.
But he also knows how hard he worked to achieve this status.
