He is considered one of the best players in the world. He has won just about everything at club level and is the star player for his country. Mo Salah arrived at Liverpool at a pivotal time for the club and has helped the team win countless trophies in the seven years he has been in the city.
Jürgen Klopp may have revolutionized the way Liverpool played – and arguably the entire English Premier League – but it is Mo Salah’s performances that have been instrumental in Liverpool’s continued success. If you are searching for the best soccer betting strategy you could do worse than just backing the team Salah is playing for to win.
As with all the top players, Mo Salah’s absence is a disaster for any team he plays for. The controversy of his departure from the Africa Cup of Nations will rumble on for a little while but it is the extent of his injury that will worry both Liverpool and Egypt in the long run. He is such an important player that any time he is not playing, his team is weaker. But how did he become the most important player in recent Liverpool history?
Questions Over His Signing
It seems strange to think now but there were more than a few pundits that questioned what Mo Salah would bring to Liverpool when his signing was announced in 2017. In fact, Liverpool itself had the Egyptian way down a list of midfield targets. Christian Pulisic, Julian Draxler, and Julian Brandt were all prized higher than the man who is now a firm fans’ favourite.
To be fair, his previous stint in England has been underwhelming. Salah signed for Chelsea in January 2014 and played a number of times before the end of the season. But he was criticized by then-manager Jose Mourinho and ended up joining Fiorentina on loan. The Viola were impressed enough to want to make the move permanent but he joined Roma instead, initially on loan again before signing in 2016. It was his performances in the Eternal City over the next year and a half that reignited Liverpool’s interest.
Instant Success
Arriving as a record-fee player, Salah had a lot to prove and set about that immediately. He scored on his debut for the club and then didn’t really stop until the end of the season. He was the joint-second fastest player to reach 20 goals for the club (he achieved that feat in just 26 games).
Salah went on to score 44 goals in all competitions, including 32 in the league, for which he won the Golden Boot award. He was also named the PFA’s Players’ Player of the Year and only missed out on capping an incredible debut season for Liverpool by winning the Champions League after he was cruelly injured early on in the final against Real Madrid.
What Salah Brings to Liverpool
As we all know, Salah came back even stronger the very next season. Incredibly, his lower tally of goals forced some to suggest that he was not as good as everyone believed from his debut performance. But he ended the season as a Champions League winner, after scoring the opener in just two minutes against Spurs.
Salah has gone on to win further Golden Boots and silverware in his time at Liverpool. Although he has been definitely part of an overall improvement at the club, much of that success has been spearheaded by Salah. His speed and incisive running introduced an extra level of attacking verve to the team, to go alongside the defensive pressing game that Klopp had introduced to such effect.
Ability to Adapt
Many outside the club pondered aloud about Salah joining the exodus to Saudi Arabia last summer as clubs there splashed the cash to attract some of the biggest names in the world. He was widely rumoured to be leaving Liverpool but eventually stayed and has seemingly adapted his game to become even more influential.
It is not as though Salah had not contributed in the previous six seasons at the club, of course. But it does seem as though he has become even more of a rounded player and his assists numbers have gone up. His goal count looks like rising as well, even though he has only dipped under the 25 mark once since coming to Anfield.
The Future for Salah at Liverpool
Salah’s current contract ends in the summer of 2025 and Saudi clubs have been keen to spend a lot of money on securing his services before then. He is regarded as one of the most loyal players in the Premier League though and has even shown signs of willingness to sign an extension to his current deal.
He would be 33 by the time that contract finished but would surely still have a lot to offer Jürgen Klopp, as younger players such as Darwin Núñez develop. Injuries may be the only stumbling block over Salah playing an important role for Liverpool for another year or two. Alongside Klopp, Salah has completely changed the way Liverpool play and raised the expectations of the fans. And they will undoubtedly want him to stay as long as possible.