Superstar Spotlight: Mo Salah's birthday celebrations could include a Premier League title for the Liverpool sensation
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3 Yrs Ago
Mo Salah celebrated his 28th birthday on Monday, and while the Egyptian star appeared to have a fun time celebrating it, you can imagine he is hoping to be able to receive his dream gift just a few days later.
If results break the right way at the start of the Premier League’s return to action this week, Salah could celebrate with an English Premier League championship trophy, adding to the impressive collection of silverware he has helped the Reds compile since his arrival in 2017.
Salah’s charismatic smile, relentless running and pinpoint accuracy with his deadly left foot have helped him become a fan favorite at Anfield, and he has reciprocated that love with goals and assists, serving as the focal point of Jurgen Klopp’s three-headed attacking juggernaut alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.
Salah’s stardom at Liverpool has exceeded all reasonable expectations for a player who arrived from Roma in 2017 and known then as a ‘Chelsea reject’ due to his unsuccessful spell at Stamford Bridge. Klopp was one person who didn’t buy into that label, or to the notion that Salah couldn’t thrive in the Premier League because of his failed tenure at Chelsea from 2014 to 2016.
“The only thing that we really ignored was what he did at Chelsea,” Klopp told the Liverpool Echo. “When he was at Basel we (Dortmund) played them and we didn’t know him. It was ‘what the f**k?’. It was unbelievable. The moment I said ‘let’s go for him’ he was already at Chelsea.
“Then he struggled at Chelsea because it was too early. Then he went to Fiorentina and then Roma,” Klopp said. “The question is ‘what did you not see in him?’ because he played all inclusive football. He was quick, he played a lot of games, he created goals and chances and he scored by himself.”
What Klopp saw in Salah in those early days at FC Basel, and more recently during his time in Serie A with Fiorentina and Roma, was a player who could fit in perfectly into his system, as a striker both willing to do the hard work of pressing high up the field, and capable of combining with teammates and using his speed and pinpoint finishing ability to punish defenses.
All those qualities came together in Salah’s very first season at Liverpool, as he amassed an incredible 44 goals in all competitions and helped the Reds reach the Champions League final. Salah’s injury in the final against Real Madrid was a crushing blow to Liverpool’s chances in that eventual loss, but he and Liverpool came back a year later and finished the job, lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time in 14 seasons.
Liverpool’s focus now is on winning the elusive league title the club hasn’t won in the Premier League era, a stretch dating back to 1990, and Salah will be at the forefront of putting the fitting end to what has been a dominant league season for the Reds, who now sit a whopping 25 points ahead of second-place Manchester City.
The Premier League Golden Boot winner in each of his first two seasons at Anfield, Salah has 16 goals this season, currently third-most in the league, and has actually scored at a higher rate this season than in his Golden Boot-winning campaign in 2018-2019.
A third straight Premier League Golden Boot may not be on the cards for Salah, but he has a much bigger target in his sights in the Premier League title, which Liverpool could clinch this week of Manchester City loses on Wednesday to Arsenal, and Liverpool defeats Everton on Sunday.
Whether the title celebration happens on Sunday, or later, Salah will be sure to celebrate it as the best belated birthday present he could hope for.
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