“He’s, for me, another Juan Cuardrado.”
The words of journalist Mina Rzouki following Mohamed Salah’s £34million move to Liverpool in the summer of 2017. It was an opinion that aged like milk. The Egyptian scored and won a penalty on his debut for the Reds, a 3-3 draw with Watford, before going on to break records galore during his debut campaign at Anfield.
Many will claim he was a transformative signing for the Merseyside club. There’s a bit of rewriting of history there. The Reds needed a pacey, goal threat. They’d become far too reliant on Sadio Mane.
Salah, who almost joined the club before eventually signing for Chelsea, fit the criteria.
He impressed for Roma, scoring 29 in 65 across two seasons in the Italian capital and he caught the eye for Fiorentina while on loan from Chelsea.
Perhaps his best goal for La Viola arrived against Juventus and it highlighted what he was all about as a player. The former Basel winger picked the ball up in his own half and he just kept running until he was in the Juventus box before lashing the ball past the goalkeeper.
It felt like he did all of that in the blink of an eye.
So Liverpool had their man. And they signed him for a reasonable fee, all things considered.
It was the same summer that Manchester United spent £75million on Romelu Lukaku and Chelsea signed Alvaro Morata for £60million. Arsenal parted with close to £50million for Alexandre Lacazette and Manchester City paid £52million for Benjamin Mendy.
Still, some had him down as a Chelsea reject following his disappointing stint at Stamford Bridge. Salah, in truth, wasn’t viewed as a coup for the Reds.
However, fast forward 12 months and the narrative was completely different. In fact, the biggest impact he had on Liverpool wasn’t until the end of his first season with the club.
A season in which Pep Guardiola was caught on camera saying the front three from Liverpool scared him.
After netting 32 goals in the Premier League and 44 across all competitions, the left-footed attacker signed a new, improved deal at Anfield.
This was when things shifted for the Reds. Salah was the instigator.
"This news can be seen for what it is; rewarding a person who performed and contributed greatly for the team and the club last season," said then Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
"We want world-class talent to see they have a home at Anfield where they can fulfil all their professional dreams and ambitions - we are working hard together to achieve this. When someone like Mo Salah commits and says this place is my home now, it speaks very loudly I think.”
Up until then, like it or not, the Reds had been viewed as a stepping stone club. Michael Owen moved for trophies. Luis Suarez left for success with Barcelona. Just six months prior to Salah’s new deal, Philippe Coutinho had forced through a £140million move to the Camp Nou.
With the exception of Steven Gerrard, every world class player to call Anfield home over the past two decades had used the club to put themselves in the shop window.
Salah, however, viewed it as a club that would match his ambitions.
He, along with his teammates from that Klopp era, took the club from Champions League hopefuls to the champions of everything. Salah was the posterboy for it.
Next season, for the first time in nine years, the Liverpool project will have a new posterboy.
Salah announced yesterday that his time with the club is coming to an end. Reports then emerged revealing that the 33-year-old is walking away from his £400,000-per-week deal with the club to leave on a free. His next club is not yet known.
But what is known is that he’ll leave Anfield a legend.
He played a part in changing, well, everything.
He made Liverpool a destination for world class players. Salah helped this club win two Premier League titles and reach three European Cup finals.
The No11 was part of the Liverpool team that was as close to perfection as we’ve witnessed in the modern era.
During the 2019/20 season, the Reds won 26 of their opening 27 matches, drawing the other game.
They were a relentless winning machine and Salah was at the forefront of it.
During the course of a 38-game spell, the Reds accrued more points than any other team in Premier League history (104). This was utter domination.
Across his nine seasons with the club, he won four Golden Boots and finished the season with 30 or more goals on five occasions. Without Salah, who knows where this Liverpool project would be.
His 29 goals and 18 assists helped them become champions last season. His 255 goals during his time with the club is perhaps why they’re now in a position to sign the likes of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.
It’s why they’ve been able to keep hold of Alisson Becker and Virgil van Dijk. These players want success and when you have a relentless goal threat leading your line, you’re always in with a chance.
Gerrard kept Liverpool relevant during the difficult years. Salah kept Liverpool in contention at the summit for the best part of a decade.
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