The Egyptian King speaks candidly ahead of his farewell, reflecting on what has made him one of the greatest players in the club’s history
Mohamed Salah has broken his silence on the muscle injury that forced him off during Liverpool’s victory over Crystal Palace, offering reassurance to supporters that he will be back in a red shirt before his time at the club draws to a close. Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with club legend Steven Gerrard for TNT Sports, the No.11 also opened up on the inner drive that has fuelled one of the most extraordinary careers English football has ever witnessed, and the profound emotional connection he has built with the people of Liverpool over the course of nine remarkable years.
The Injury Update
Salah sustained a minor muscle injury during last weekend’s win over Crystal Palace at Anfield, a game that summed up so much of what he represents to this club. He gave everything, as he always does, before being withdrawn in the second half as a precaution. The immediate concern was understandable. With the end of the season approaching and his Liverpool career winding towards its conclusion, the prospect of Salah missing his final weeks in a red shirt felt genuinely painful for supporters who have adored him since the moment he arrived.
But the man himself is characteristically calm and confident about the situation. Ruling himself out of this Sunday’s Premier League trip to Manchester United, Salah has made clear that the injury is not serious and that he expects to return to action before the season concludes. Asked specifically about the possibility of featuring on the final day against Brentford, his response was straightforward and reassuring.
“Yeah, for sure. The injury is fine. Definitely. I probably will be back before that, probably.”
It is the kind of understated confidence that has defined Salah throughout his time at Liverpool. No drama, no fuss, just a quiet certainty that he will be ready when it matters. For a player who has given so much to this club, the prospect of one final appearance in front of the Anfield faithful feels like something supporters and player alike will be determined to make happen.
A Career Written into Liverpool’s History Books
The numbers alone tell a story that would have seemed almost unbelievable on the day Salah arrived from Roma in the summer of 2017. Two hundred and fifty-seven goals, the third-highest tally in Liverpool’s entire history. One hundred and nineteen assists. Two Premier League titles, a Champions League, an FA Cup, a League Cup and nine trophies in total. A player who has redefined what it means to be prolific at the highest level of the game, season after season, year after year, with barely a hint of decline.
Even this season, his final campaign in a Liverpool shirt, Salah has managed 12 goals and 9 assists in 39 appearances. At 32 years of age, in what should theoretically be the twilight of his powers, he remains among the most dangerous attackers in world football. The numbers do not lie, and the numbers say that Mohamed Salah is simply one of the best players ever to grace the Premier League.
But statistics, however impressive, cannot fully capture what Salah has meant to this club. The goals at key moments, the performances that turned seasons, the individual brilliance that elevated Liverpool from contenders to champions. His presence in the team has, for nearly a decade, made Liverpool a fundamentally different and better proposition. That is the true measure of his legacy.
The Secret: Desire
When Gerrard, a man who knows a thing or two about dedicating a career to Liverpool Football Club, asked Salah for the secret to his extraordinary success, the answer was not what some might have expected. No mention of natural talent, of physical gifts, of technical ability honed from a young age. Instead, Salah pointed to something altogether more internal and burning.
“I would say the desire. I really want to succeed. I really want to be remembered in this club.”
What followed was one of the most candid and revealing things Salah has ever said publicly about his own ambitions and the mentality that has driven him. He spoke of a goal that formed in his mind after his first season at the club, a goal so audacious and so deeply personal that it is difficult not to be moved by it.
“After the first year, I would say I want people to remember me as if I’m one of the best. And somehow it got into my head I want people to remember me more than you, more than Kenny. I’m not trying to be rude! They will not. But it doesn’t matter.”
There is something deeply admirable in that honesty. He is not claiming to have surpassed Gerrard or Dalglish in the affections of Liverpool supporters. He acknowledges, with a warmth and self-awareness that speaks volumes about his character, that he will not. But the point is what that ambition did to him. It drove him to be the first one through the door at training. It drove him to the gym when others might have rested. It drove him to do everything right, every single day, in pursuit of a legacy that would stand the test of time.
“For me, something drove me crazy and drove me to work hard, to be the first one in, to go to the gym, to do everything right, because I want people always to praise me through my work. It’s just the desire, I would say.”
It is a philosophy that any aspiring footballer should write down and read every morning.
A Love Story with Liverpool
Perhaps the most emotional part of the interview came when Salah attempted to articulate the relationship he has built with Liverpool’s supporters. It is a connection that has always been visible from the outside, in the raw passion of the crowd when he receives the ball, in the songs that have been written in his honour, in the tears that have been shed at the prospect of his departure. But hearing Salah describe it in his own words gives it a different, more intimate quality.
“Incredible. I never imagined I would be close to somebody like this. I feel so emotional when I speak about them or about the city. The connection between us is incredible.”
He went further, offering a simple but profoundly wise piece of advice that cuts to the heart of why footballers either win or lose the love of the supporters who watch them.
“If you give it all on the field, they will love you anyway. They know that I gave it all, I’ve been professional all my career and tried to encourage the guys: leave it all on the field and the fans will appreciate it.”
Salah has always given it all. That has never been in question, not once in nine years. And Liverpool’s supporters have loved him for it completely and unconditionally.
The farewell is coming. But not just yet. First, there is the small matter of a return from injury, one final run of games in red, and a last chance to say thank you in the only language Mohamed Salah has ever truly spoken: goals, assists and everything left on the pitch.
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YNWA (You’ll Never Walk Alone)!
The Liverpool FC Times Team
LiverpoolFCTimes.com