Mohamed Salah: Time to Embrace the Living-Legend Leadership at Liverpool

The Egyptian King has signed a new, two-year deal at Anfield, meaning he’s now in a position to enhance an already stellar legacy

‘More in than out’?! You’ve got to hand it to the marketing and social media teams at Liverpool. They’ve got a cheeky sense of humour. And at least everyone involved in the painfully protracted negotiations over Mohamed Salah’s contract extension can laugh about it all now.

Because, at the time, there was nothing funny about the Egyptian revealing last November that he was “more out than in” at Anfield.

“I haven’t received anything yet about my future,” Salah told reporters after the 3-2 win over Southampton at St. Mary’s. “There is no club like this. I love the fans. The fans love me. But it is not in my hands or the fans’ hands. So, let’s wait and see.”

In the end, we had to wait nearly another five full months before the future of the best player in the Premier League was finally resolved, which remains difficult to get one’s head around as we could be talking about the Premier League’s GOAT here…

There was, of course, always the expectation that Salah would end up staying at Liverpool. When he says he loves the club, and the city, he really means it.

“I have had the best years of my career,” he told the Reds’ official website after signing his new, two-year deal. “I’m enjoying my life here, I’m enjoying my football. My family also feels at home.

“It’s a special moment always when you play at Anfield. There is no place like it. The warmth you feel inside. The song before the game. Everything about it, every time you score a goal and they sing my song, it’s something special.

“And the story will continue…”

Which is obviously just as well for Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), and sporting director Richard Hughes, as they’d have had to deal with the most bitter backlash from the fans if they’d lost one of the greatest players in the club’s history for nothing

Playing better than ever?

Some continue to question the wisdom of giving a lucrative new deal to a player that turns 33 in June but Salah’s form left Liverpool with no choice. He’s playing as well as – if not better than – ever before.

Salah has carried Arne Slot’s attack for the majority of the season. He’s scored 27 goals in 31 games, meaning he’s not only on course to equal Thierry Henry’s record haul of four Premier League Golden Boots, he’s also poised to claim his first European Golden Shoe.

And as Slot said, “What makes it even more impressive is that he does this year after year after year. Not many players are able to do that and that he is able to do this tells you a lot about the quality he has.”

The all-round excellence

However, we’re also seeing a far less selfish Salah this season, which is the result of a very deliberate effort to improve those around him.

“That’s part of growing,” he explained in an interview with TNT Sports. “You want everybody to play well because you’re not going to win the league alone, so you want other players to also perform.

“That’s what I’m trying to do the last few months, probably from the beginning of the season, to study their games and understand what the players like. In the past, when I was younger, I just focused on myself more on the pitch.

“So far, I think this is my best season because I make the players around me better as well. That’s what I feel. I know their games. All the numbers around all the players are going to be higher than other seasons. Plus my assists are higher which means I’m really helping them a lot.”

The numbers certainly support Salah’s claim, as he now needs to create three more goals to become the only other player other than Henry to register more than 20 goals and assists in the same Premier League season – which would just be the ultimate testament to his all-round excellence and the perfect illustration of why Liverpool were willing to give him an extension.

Driven by trophies, not money

Losing Salah this summer would have been a disaster for Liverpool – because there’s not a single winger on the market capable of replacing him.

Deep down, there must have also been a temptation for Salah to take the massive amounts of money on offer in Saudi Arabia and leave Anfield on a high, after playing a starring role in a Premier League triumph.

However, it’s clear that as he approaches his 33rd birthday in June, Salah remains as fit (he’s started all 31 of Liverpool’s Premier League games so far this season) as he is hungry.

This is not a man motivated by money – but by silverware – and the seamless transition Slot has overseen since succeeding Jurgen Klopp as manager has clearly played a pivotal part in Salah’s decision.

“We have a great team now,” Salah told the club’s website. “Before also we had a great team but I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies.”

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The coveted second title

Of course, the Premier League is already within touching distance, with Liverpool presently 11 points clear at the top of the table.

It would be the second championship of Salah’s career but the first that he’d get to properly enjoy it with the club’s supporters, given the historic 2019-20 triumph was realised during the Coronavirus pandemic.

One can be sure, then, that Salah is going to savour every second of the title run-in, starting with Sunday’s Premier League clash with West Ham at Anfield, where he is going to receive an even more rapturous reception than usual following the news that’s signed on for another two years.

“I think I said in the beginning of the season, I just want to win the Premier League more than anything else,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “I want it so bad, to be fair.

“The fans deserve it – last time we won it we didn’t celebrate it that much. Hopefully we do it this time. There’s still seven games to go, it’s not going to be easy at all because Arsenal are also catching up. We’ll give it our all and hopefully in the end we can win it.”

Immortality beckons

Salah is obviously already a living legend at Liverpool, a legitimate contender for the title of the club’s best player of the Premier League era.

If he maintains his form and fitness, another two years at Anfield is only going to add to an already remarkable legacy.

There is now also the very real possibility, though, that he could even go down as the greatest player the Premier League has ever seen overall.

Salah is one of only three men in the top 10 of the all-time leaderboards for goals (fifth) and assists (10th). Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard are the other two, and Salah could now overhaul both of them, which would arguably elevate him above the great Henry, who spent eight seasons at Arsenal.

Of course, Liverpool fans won’t really be too worried whether he gets there or not. All they care about right now is the fact that Salah is staying, because the longer this affair dragged on, the more nervous they became. At one point, it really did look like he might be on his way out. Now he’s back in.

Much to the Reds’ relief, the story will continue… and it could now easily end with him being universally recognised as the greatest player ever to grace in the Premier League.