This season will be Mo Salah’s seventh at Liverpool and the brilliant Egyptian shows no sign of slowing down, having scored 19 goals in the Premier League last season.
Salah is still Liverpool’s star man at the age of 31 and having signed a contract extension last summer through to 2025 the prolific goal scorer is a key part of Jürgen Klopp’s plans as he rebuilds the team again.
As the Reds prepare for the forthcoming campaign Salah has been impressing his manager, club staff, teammates and fans with his incredible fitness levels. In fact Klopp jokingly handed Salah the ‘James Milner award’ as the fittest player in the squad in a recent training session, with 37 year-old Milner having departed for Brighton.
Klopp did not want to lose Milner, but he will now look to other senior players such as Salah to set the example for the younger players and demonstrate their leadership quality as new faces join the Liverpool camp.
Salah remarkable physique has often been on display at Anfield as he tears away from the Kop bare chested in wild celebration after scoring yet again… and who cares if he picks up a yellow card for showing off his abs?
The former Roma and Chelsea player recently posted on Instagram showing his stats for a 7km training run on a treadmill, completing the distance in 29 minutes and 46 seconds, a highly respectable pace of three minutes and 55 seconds per kilometre. Not bad at all.
Reporting back for pre-season on Monday 10th July in tip top shape, as befitting of a modern pro, Salah causes very few headaches for Klopp and the Liverpool fitness coaches.
Also with the Liverpool squad on their first day back were summer signings Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, who have been impressively recruited by Liverpool as they look to regenerate what had become an ageing midfield. More signings are expected, including potentially Roméo Lavia from Southampton.
That is all good news for Salah who at times last season appeared to be one of the only bright sparks in a team that performed inconsistently and ultimately missed out on Champions League football, despite a late push.
Liverpool’s summer recruitment and the positive atmosphere around the club, embodied by their talisman Salah, has many tipping them to challenge for more silverware this season, having seen rivals Manchester City win the treble last season.
During his time at Liverpool Salah has won it all, the Champions League, the Premier League title, the FA Cup, the League Cup, two PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards, three Premier League Golden Boots and the Premier League Player of the Season award.
He will be the focus of Liverpool’s attack again this season, the only remaining member of the formidable trio he formed with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané still at the club.
Salah now has the likes of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez for company in the attacking department at Anfield. They are all talented players but they will be looking to Salah to lead by example and to orchestrate the team’s offensive play whenever he is available to play. Salah is certainly still up to the job.
To Egyptians, Salah is known as the ‘Fourth Pyramid’ given his importance as a national icon and true sporting hero to his compatriots. In 88 international caps he’s scored 49 goals for his country and he will lead their efforts at the forthcoming CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 in the Ivory Coast.
The tournament will in fact be played from mid January to mid February 2024 having been delayed a year due to adverse weather conditions in the Ivory Coast. Salah is also wanted to by his country to play at the Olympics next year.
It’s going to be a busy season for the Egyptian star and he’s well up to the challenge.
