A look back at Jurgen Klopp’s comments on Mohamed Salah’s arrival from Roma in 2017 highlights the extent to which he has changed at Liverpool. “I’ve been following him since he emerged at Basel and he’s developed into a really good player,” he said.
At the time, I didn’t think that was an underestimate. Salah had excelled in Italy but returned to England as a so-called Chelsea reject with a point to prove. Klopp said Liverpool added competitiveness to an area of the pitch where they were “already strong”.
It soon became clear that he would do more than that. In December of Salah’s first season, after equaling Roger Hunt’s club record of 23 goals by the turn of the year, Klopp was asked if he had exceeded expectations. “100 percent,” he said.
It is no exaggeration to say that his signing changed the course of Liverpool’s history. He is third on the club’s all-time goalscoring list with 255 goals in 435 games and is certain to add to that tally before leaving at the end of the season.
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Mohamed Salah has shared a touching farewell message. Instagram credit: @mosalah.
He has helped the club win as many league titles in eight seasons as in the previous 30, not to mention the Champions League and six other trophies won since he arrived.
His exact place in the Premier League greats rankings will continue to be hotly debated. But what is certain is that Salah has secured a place near the top of the list.
Only Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane have scored more goals in this competition. Salah is actually unique among the top 15 as he is more of a wide forward than a versatile striker.
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Mohamed Salah twisted Watford’s defense and fired home at the far post. Is this the Liverpool forward’s best Premier League goal?
He is also the only player to win the PFA Player of the Year award three times, and last season won the award for the third time in an individual season, which will go down as one of the best players in history.
Salah inspired Liverpool’s title win under manager Arne Slott, scoring an astonishing 47 goals in 38 games this season, the most of any player. His goals and assists earned him 38 points.
His contribution to the Premier League over the nine years since joining Liverpool in 2017 is unparalleled.
Mohamed Salah’s incredible numbers since making his Premier League debut with Liverpool
Salah is the competition’s outstanding scorer and creator, ranking first for goals, assists, shots, open play chances created and touches taken inside the opposition box during that period.
There is a gulf between Salah and other players in many of those categories. His total of goals and assists is 281, more than 100 ahead of the next highest player on the list, Son Heung-min. He is equally wide-ranging when it comes to shooting and touching inside the box.
Remarkably, Salah has scored or assisted 39 per cent of Liverpool’s 717 Premier League goals over the past nine seasons.
His extraordinary talent flourished thanks to another superpower: his robustness. Since the 2017/18 season, only Jordan Pickford and James Tarkowski have made more than 310 Premier League appearances. His work ethic promotes remarkable stability.
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Take a look at some of Mohamed Salah’s outrageous stats from his time at Liverpool that you may not be aware of
Liverpool have fallen out of the Premier League top flight at one point or another over the past nine years, but Salah’s individual performance has never dipped until this season.
Even in 2020/21, his lowest number of goals and assists, his total of 27 goals ranked him third among players in his division behind Kane and Bruno Fernandes. He was the only Liverpool player to be named in the PFA Team of the Year that season.
His manager also deserves praise. Klopp for building on his success by moving Sadio Mane to the left, placing him on the right side of Liverpool’s attack and building the team around him. A slot to reduce his off-the-ball responsibilities in order to maximize his impact in the final third last season.
Few could have predicted that the contract he signed in the final two months of that season would end up being shortened by a year. But Salah set the bar so high that when the fall finally came, it was impossible to miss.
Salah has not been helped by the upheavals around him, including the death of Trent Alexander-Arnold, a man whose achievements he cherished. But it’s also due to age. Salah is three months away from his 34th birthday. A downward trajectory is expected.
After losing his place in the team in the first half of the season, it looked like he might not get the red card Liverpool deserved after an explosive falling out with Slott.
But Salah’s return after the African Cup of Nations changed things, giving a player who had spent nine years in their own league, turning Liverpool’s fortunes around and carving out his own path to greatness the chance to take another leap forward.
