MASTERFUL MO

Mo Salah has gone from ridiculed fl op to Liverpool’s greatest goal-scorer since the Premier League was launched in 1992. And there could be much more to come.

- Nick Said

Those who watched Egypt forward Mo Salah struggle in his early days at Chelsea would never have said he would go on to become one of the finest forwards the Premier League has seen.

These days, Salah is revered for his pace, artistry on the ball and lethal finishing, but when he first arrived in England nine years ago, was dismissed as a flop at the Stamford Bridge club.

Having been developed through Cairo club Al Mokawloon, he moved on to Swiss side Basel in 2012 and showed promise as a raw, attacking player with quick feet and a good football brain.

He names Ronaldo (the Brazilian striker), Zinedine Zidane and Francesco Totti as his early idols, though in truth, he is nothing like those players. The one thing they did all have in common, though, was tremendous vision on the ball.

Salah battled with finishing in the early years, often ending up in tears in the dressing room after games, but this instilled in him a burning desire to be successful.

Basel had been keeping an eye on Salah for some time and signed him ahead of the 2012/13 campaign as a replacement for the popular Xherdan Shaqiri, who would later become a teammate of the Egyptian's at Anfield.