Mohamed Salah is one of the world’s most popular and recognisable footballers. An Egyptian icon,
Salah has a claim to be the best player in the world on current form. He’s arguably the first
African since Goerge Weah in 1995 to stake such a claim, although unlike Weah, who won the Ballon
d’Or in that year, Salah has so far failed to take the men’s game’s biggest individual honour.
But Salah has finished third twice, as well as winning the Premier League, Champions League,
and twice taking the Premier League’s Golden Boot,
while the 2017-18 season saw him win the PFA Players’ and Fans’ Player of the Year trophies.
Salah was born in Basyoun, a city in northern Egypt. From a young age,
he was deeply committed to football, telling Liverpool’s official site:
“I had originally been playing for a club that was half an hour away from my village in Basyoun.
Then I signed for a club in Tanta, which was one-and-a-half hours away.
From there, I went to Arab Contractors in Cairo,
so it was a four to four-and-a-half-hour journey five days a week to get to training.”
His contract with Arab Contractors, also known as Al Mokawloon Al Arab Sporting Club, was his
first as a professional but, aged just fourteen, he had to get special dispensation from his school
to miss most of his lessons. He debuted in Egypt’s top-flight aged 17 and played every game in the
2011-12 season, but after the cancellation of the remainder of the season following the Port Said
Stadium riot, European clubs started to circle the hugely promising, but raw, young talent.
Basel, one of Switzerland’s more successful clubs in recent years, swooped after one last
scouting mission in a friendly they arranged against Egypt’s U23s, in which Salah scored
twice. He won the league two years in a row, but it was his performances in the Champions League,
especially scoring home and away against Chelsea in Group E of the 2013/14 competition. Basel beat
Chelsea home and away, with Jose Mourinho going on to remark that he “fell in love” with the
then 21-year-old. “I like the way Salah has that adaptability to play right, left, or behind the
striker. He’s fast in the space, fast with the ball, creative, enthusiastic, and left-footed.”
That last point mattered, as Mourinho had worked his magic on the similar Arjen Robben.
And Mourinho was seeking to regenerate Chelsea that window, refreshing the squad and bringing in
a few younger players who could play a more ball dominant team, even as the club sold Juan Mata
and Kevin De Bruyne. But Salah failed to settle at Chelsea. Despite a couple of goals against
Arsenal, in Arsene Wenger’s 1000th game, and Stoke in the league, Salah struggled to make an impact,
as well as having to personally lobby to avoid Egyptian military service in 2014.
Despite apparently making a huge impression in training,
Salah struggled to replicate his confidence at Cobham in games,
while his naturally shy personality was overwhelmed by a strong, characterful dressing
room. Salah couldn’t make himself loud enough to be heard, or picked, and so a move was inevitable.
He was loaned first to Fiorentina, with Juan Cuadrado moving the other way,
but there was still a sense that Chelsea were monitoring his progress with an eye to
bringing him back into the fold, rather than using the loan to tout him to the market. He
scored 9 in 26 Serie A games, developing well in the tactically astute environment.
Despite Fiorentina wanting to keep him for the agreed loan period, it transpired that Salah
could actually decide where to go at the end of the season and despite a challenge at the Court
of Arbitration for Sport lodged by Fiorentina, he left for Roma to start the 2015/16 season.
The loan was quickly made permanent, and Salah thrived in Italy again,
with 34 goals in 83 appearances for the Giallarosi and a Serie A runners-up spot in his final season.
Having impressed in Italy, Salah had caught the attention of Liverpool’s
famous recruitment apparatus, headed by Michael Edwards, becoming the club’s record signing
for an initial £36.5 million, eclipsing the £35 million spent on Andy Carroll.
Both in relative and absolute terms, that looks like a steal now.
Salah has scored 148 goals in 229 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool, lining in
alongside Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane in perhaps the most exciting and recognisable
attacking trident in the league. Winning the Champions League, Premier League, and the Club
World Cup are reason enough to laud Salah, but his open, friendly personality, tireless work ethic,
and scintillating skill have made him a club icon. Now a face of Adidas, Pepsi, and Vodafone,
Salah’s commercial pull is as much the result of his likeability as his sporting success.
Salah’s journey has been remarkable. From a gruelling five hour journey to training in Egypt,
to moving to Europe as a young man and overcoming language barriers, shyness, and the difficulty of
his first big move falling apart, the Egyptian star has shown immense resilience and character.
His innate talent has obviously helped, but his ability to forge ahead and shape
his career with single-minded determination is also key.