Egyptian does depart Anfield – potentially
a moment that’s still many years away – he
already knows he’ll feel deeply sad to leave.
“Yeah, of course,” he says. “To play in that
atmosphere and see the fans always behind
me – I have banners in the stadium, two or
three, and they’re always singing my song,
so it’s going to be a really sad moment.”
It’s not only Reds fans who sing Salah’s
song – head over to YouTube and you’ll find
Liverpool-supporting parrots singing it, too.
“Mo Salah, Mo Salah, Mo Salah, running down
the wing, Salaaaaaaaaaaaaah, the Egyptian
king,” the exotic bird chirps, to the tune of Sit
Down by indie band James, who clearly have
quite the psittacine following.
Salah has already delivered five trophies
to the parrots and the people of Liverpool –
after the Premier League, Champions
League, Super Cup and Club World Cup, he
tasted victory in his first Wembley final in
February when helping Klopp’s side defeat
Chelsea to lift the League Cup.
“Lifting that first trophy in the middle of the
season was great – it showed us there’s a few
more things more to win,” he says, talking
ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup semi-final with
Manchester City, and the closing stages of
both the Premier League and Champions
League. “Hopefully we can get the three. If
not, then at least the Premier League and
the Champions League.”
At least? “At least!” he laughs, jokingly
doubling down on his assessment that
winning only the League Cup, league title
and a second European crown wouldn’t be
his idea of the perfect season, but it would
probably have to do. It gives you an insight
into the mentality of the man, and the
reason he’s progressed to become arguably
the best player on the planet. Winning the
Premier League and Champions League
once was already pretty impressive. Winning
them again, whenever that might be, would
cement his greatness. Salah is determined
to make it happen, this year if possible.
“Yeah, winning them both again would
make me win the Ballon d’Or, so...” he says,
before that beaming smile breaks out, and he
interrupts himself mid-sentence with a laugh.
No matter how much success Salah has
already had, it will never be enough. “It’s
a hunger,” he explains. “I want to win them
two, three, four times. Why not? It’s a dream
for everybody, you can dream whatever you
want to, and you can achieve whatever you
want to achieve. It’s my dream to win the
Premier League three or four times because
a football player’s career is short, between
15 and 20 years maybe, some players less.
“You just need to achieve everything, you
have to be greedy – I mean greedy in a good
way, like you want to win that trophy, like
this is your right. It depends what you want
to achieve, what you decide. I always decidein my mind that I want to win the Premier
League and the Champions League again
and again, as it’s an unbelievable feeling.
Winning both is unbelievable.”
There’s that word again. Yet Salah believed
from day one at Liverpool that he could win
those trophies – he promised his friends as
much, then made it a reality. Since he walked
back into English football five years ago with
a point to prove and a pair of slippers on his
feet, Salah has had no shortage of Cinderella
moments. If he gets his wish, this fairytale
has plenty more chapters ahead.38 June 2022 FourFourTwo
“YOU’VE GOT TO BE
GREEDY, In A GOOD
WAY. YOU WAnT TO
WIn A TROPHY, LIKE
THIS IS YOUR RIGHT”
Above “Our
Morecambe and
Wise tribute act
is coming along”
Top En route to
League Cup gloryMO
SALAHMORE On FOURFOURTWO.COM
- Why do so many people underrate Salah?
(by Matt Ladson) - Quiz: Can you name every club Salah has
scored against for Liverpool? - Ballon d’Or 2022 power rankings: Who will
win the award? (by Mark White)