Mohammed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly is an Egyptian professional footballer who is a forward for the Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt national team. He is often considered one of the best players in the world and is renowned for his dribbling, speed and finishing.
He began his senior career after joining Al Mokawloon in 2010, and then joined Basel in 2012, where he won two Swiss Super League titles. Salah joined Chelsea in 2014 for a fee of £11 million, but limited gametime caused consecutive loans to Fiorentina and Roma, who had then later signed him permanently for £12405000. In 2017, he signed for Liverpool for £36.9 million and became the most expensive Egyptian player of all time. Salah won the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League Golden Boot twice and finished third for the The Best FIFA Men's Player in 2018 and 2021. He also holds the world record for the Premier League goals scored in a 38-game season(32 goals) and is the ninth-highest goalscorer for Liverpool of all time.
In international level, Salah initially represented Egypt at youth level before making his senior appearance debut in 2011. He was named the CAF Most Promising African Talent of the year after his performance in the 2012 Summer Olympics. He finished as runner-up in the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. In the 2017 and 2018, he was the CAF African Footballer of the Year and the BBC African Footballer of the Year and was selected in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament and the CAF Team of the Year many times.
Club and International Career[]
Beginning his international career & Al Mokawloon[]
Salah began playing for local youth teams and claimed his childhood idols were Ronaldo de Lima, Zinedine Zidane and Francesco Totti. He joined the youth team Al Mokawloon in 2006 when he was 14 after being seen by a scout who spotted him; he often missed school for his 3 hour journey to training. The team manager Mohamed Radwan noticed his talent and immediately sent him to the senior squad immediately when he was 15. He was given a special diet and training routine as he had not fully developed his muscles. He made his senior team debut in the Egyptian Premier League when he came on in a match on 3 May 2010 in a 1-1 draw away against El Mansoura after coming on as a substitute. In the 2010-11 season, Salah began gaining minutes on the pitch and became a regular player. Salah would struggle to score despite this and would sometimes cry in the dressing room following matches because of this. He eventually scored his first goal for the team on Christmas 2010 in a 1-1 away draw against Al Ahly. In September 2011, he made his senior debut for the Egyptian national football team in a 2-1 away defeat against Senegal and scored his first national goal in October in a 3-0 win against Niger, allowing them to qualify for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. He also stayed as a regular for Al Mokawloon and appeared in all games during the 2011-12 season. The Egyptian Premier League was suspended after the Port Said Stadium riot and the Egyptian Football Association decided to cancel the rest of the season. In June 2012, he scored the winning goal for Egypt in the 93rd minute against Guinea in a 3-2 victory in a 2014 World Cup qualifier match.
Basel and Breakthrough[]
Once the Egyptian Premier League was suspended, the Swiss Super League club Basel, who had been watching Salah's performance for a long time, organised a friendly match with the Egypt U-23 team. It took place on 16 March and Salah was brought on in the second half. Salah scored twice, allowing his team to win 4-3. Basel then invited Salah for a week of training, and in April 2012 Salah signed for a four-year contract with them. He found it hard to settle, as he had replaced the fan favourite player Xherdan Shaqiri and had difficulty adjusting to the language. Salah scored during his unofficial debut in June 2012 in a friendly match against Steaua Bucuresti where Basel lost 4-2. He then made his official debut in a UEFA Champions League match against Molde in August and made his league debut four days later against Thun as part of the starting lineup. He scored his first league goal a week after that in a 2-0 home victory Lausanne. He scored his first Europa League goal in the quarters finals against Tottenham Hotspurs in April 2013 after beating 4-1 on penalties following a 4-4 aggregate draw. In the semi-final in May at Stamford Bridge, Salah scored a goal against Chelsea but lost to them 5-2 on aggregate. Basel went on to quite easily win the Swiss Super League Season 2012-13 Championship title and were the runners-up of the Swiss Cup. Salah was in the lineup of Basel when they won the final of the Uhrencup and in June 2013 he scored a hat-trick for Egypt in a 4-2 away victory against Zimbabwe as Egypt won their fourth consecutive qualifier match. Salah also scored in his first league appearance of the season for Basel against Aarau in July 2013. He scored his first Champions League goal in August 2013 against Maccabi Tel Aviv but was plagued by controversy after he tried to avoid shaking hands with the Israeli club in both matches against them. He scored twice against the Bulgarian league champions PFC Ludgorets Razgrad in the play off round over two weeks later and in September, he scored a goal during their 2-1 win against Chelsea. In their next match against Chelsea, he scored the winning goal in their 1-0 victory over them; Basel would go on to be eliminated during the Champions League. Salah then helped Basel win their fifth consecutive league title.
Domestic Success[]
In January 2014, Chelsea signed Salah from Basel for a fee of £11 million, making him the first Egyptian to sign for a London club. Liverpool made the same offer to Salah as well but Chelsea signed Salah just before them. In February, he made his debut for them in the Premier League and came on as a substitute in their 3-0 triumph over Newcastle United. In March, he scored their first goal for them against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge after coming on a substitute in their 6-0 victory. Prior to the start of the 2014-15 season, Salah's future with Chelsea was threatened by the risk of being forced to return to Egypt and join the military due to his registration to a education scheme being cancelled by the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education. After a meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and the Egyptian national manager Shawky Gharied he was spared. Salah also changed squad number from 15 to 17 after 15 was vacated by Eden Hazard changing to number 10. Salah was hardly used in the season and only made three Premier League appearances, two Champions Leagues appearances and three Cup appearances, not scoring in any of them. In October 2014, following a poor performance during a match against the League Two club Shrewsbury Town, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho publicly criticized him and his fellow winger Andre Schurrle. In that same month, he scored for Egypt in a 2-0 win over Botswana and again in their second match against the nation 5 days later, qualifying for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. In November Salah scored the opening goal in a 2-1 defeat away against Tunisia but Egypt missed out qualifying for the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations for the third consecutive time. Salah was then given a replica winner's medal for his contribution to Chelsea before being given for a 18-month loan to the Italian club Fiorentina. He made his debut in February 2015 against Sassuolo and scored his first goal for the club in the 30th minute before providing an assist to fellow teammate to Khouma Babacar two minutes later; they ultimately won the match 3-1. Twelve days, he scored his first European goal for the team in a match against Tottenham Hotspurs which they won 3-1 on aggregate, progressing forward in the Europa League. He scored the winning goal in a match against Inter Milan in March and scored all of their goals in an away win against Juventus four days later in the Coppa Italia semi-final. At the end of the season, Fiorentina offered to make Salah's loan from Chelsea permanent but he refused and joined the fellow Seria A club Roma for over £4136000 instead of completing his contract with Fiorentina. He made his debut in August in the opening match of the season, a 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona. In September, Fiorentina filed a complaint to FIFA against Salah and Chelsea under the charges of breaching Salah's 18 month contract by loaning Salah to Roma but the Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared them on any charges. Salah went on to score his first goal of the season against Sassuolo in a match that ended 2-2. He then scored in the 2-1 loss against Sampdoria and in a 5-1 against Carpi. In October, he scored the opening goal in a victory against his former team Fiorentina but was sent off with two yellow cards within seconds of each other in their second game against the team. In November, he scored the winning goal for a 3-2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. In March 2016, he played against Fiorentina again and scored two goals in a 4-1 victory over them as Roma advanced into the top three of the Serie A. He would then score goals against Bologna, Genoa and AC Milan and ended the season with his club in third place, scoring 15 goals in total. This also qualified them for the UEFA Champions League. In June, Salah was given the club's 2015-16 Player of the Season award and in August, he signed for Roma permanently for £12409500.
Signing for Roma[]
He scored his first goal of the season in a 4-0 triumph against Udinese in the opening match of the season and scored a hat-trick win over Bologna in November, his first club career hat-trick. However, he suffered a ruptured ankle ligament injury and was unable to play for the first half of December. He return as a half-time substitute in a 1-0 victory against title rivals Juventus on 17 December before undergoing a two-month period without scoring. In February, he scored in a 4-1 victory against Torino and scored Roma's first goal in a 4-2 defeat against Lyon in the Champions League. In the second match against the team, they won 2-1 but were unable to turn around the aggregate score and ultimately lost 5-4. In May, Salah substituted team captain Francesco Totti in a 3-2 victory over Genoa.
2017-Present: Unchained Success[]
In January 2017, he scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory for Egypt over Ghana in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, allowing Egypt to come first in Group D. During the tournament, including the final, Salah scored two goals and assisted twice in six matches but they ultimately lost the final to Cameroon 2-1. Despite this, Salah's performance earned him a place on the CAF Team of the Tournament. In June, Liverpool signed Salah for £36.5 million, becoming Liverpool's first Egyptian player and given the squad number 11. He scored in his Premier League debut in August, a 3-3 draw against Watford. 12 days later, he scored a goal in a 2017-18 UEFA Champions League play-off round match against Hoffenheim(Liverpool won the match 4-2 and 6-3 on aggregate). Three days after, he scored and assisted a goal in a 4-0 win against Arsenal and was named Player of the Month for his performance. In October, he scored twice in a 7-0 Champions League win against Maribor(joint-breaking the world record for the largest ever away win in the Champions League and the largest away win in the tournament for an English club). In November, he scored the opening goal in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and refused to celebrate because of the North Sinai Mosque attack two days prior. Salah became the highest goalscorer in the Premier League after scoring twice in a 3-0 victory against Stoke City after coming on as a substitute in November and scored in a 4-0 victory against AFC Bournemouth in December, becoming the joint-second fastest player to score 20 goals for Liverpool on his 26 appearance. During the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification stage, he was Egypt's highest goal-scorer with 5 goals, including both goals in a 2-1 victory against Congo. In March, he scored four goals in a 5-0 victory over Watford, breaking a record of scoring 36 times in his debut season for Liverpool and became the leading goalscorer in Europe's five biggest leagues, overtaking Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Tottenham's Harry Kane. In April 2018, he scored against Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Salah was then given the PFA Players' Player of the Year Award. Two days after, he scored two goals in a 5-2 triumph against his former club Roma in the Champions League semi-final and became the first African player and the first Liverpool player to score 10 goals in a single campaign in one tournament and he broke the record for the most goals of the season across all competitions and the second-highest goalscorer for Liverpool in a single season. He also became the Premier League's all-time goalscorer after scoring in a 4-0 victory over Brighton Hove and Albion. In the 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid, Salah suffered a shoulder injury in the 30th minute but resumed playing until he came off in tears after being badly injured in a challenge with Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos; Liverpool ultimately lost 3-1. The next day, Ramos sent Salah a message and good wishes. Ultimately, he was given the Premier League Golden Boot. Although doubts of Salah being in the 2018 World Cup arose, he was ultimately in Egypt's final team. He was not present in Egypt's first match on 15 June against Uruguay, in which they lost 1-0, and scored their only goal in a 3-1 defeat against hosts Russia four days later and in a 2-1 defeat against Saudi Arabia, the latter after which they were eliminated. He was given the Premier League Golden Boot. In July, he signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool and scored in the team's first game of the season, a 4-0 victory against West Ham United. In a 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace in August, he scored the first goal and assisted the second goal and scored the goal in a 1-0 victory against Brighton five days later. He also came third in the UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award and was the runners-up of the UEFA Forward of the Season. In September, he came third in the Best FIFA Men's Player as well as controversially winning the 2018 FIFA Puskas Award for the goal of the year following a goal in the Merseyside derby. Salah scored two goals for Egypt in a 6-0 victory over Niger in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification stage, as well as giving two assists. In October, he scored twice against Red Star Belgrade in a UEFA Champions League match, marking his 50th goal for Liverpool and breaking the record for reaching that milestone with 65 matches. In December, he scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory over Bournemouth in the Premier League, allowing Liverpool to reach the top of the table. He scored the winning goal in a 1-0 victory against SSC Napoli in the Champions League, qualifying them to the round of sixteen. In January 2019, he scored his 50th Premier League goal with a brace in a 4-3 win against Crystal Palace, reaching it in 72 appearances and became the joint-fourth fastest player to achieve that milestone, alongside Fernando Torres. In February, a West Ham fan was shown racially abusing Salah for being a Muslim, and was banned for three years. In April, he scored his 50th Premier League goal for Liverpool in a 3-1 win over Southampton, breaking the record to reach the milestone in the quickest appearances(69) and the third fastest player to reach the milestone for a club in the Premier League. He scored a powerful goal against Chelsea in a 2-0 victory which helped them equal their club record of Premier League victories(26) and the club's second-ever highest wins in the Premier League/First Division. He also made his 100th appearance for Liverpool on 26 April during which he scored a brace in a 5-0 victory against Huddersfield Town, breaking the record for the most goals in the first 100 goals for Liverpool(69). In June, he scored Liverpool's first goal in a 2-0 victory against Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League Final in the game's first two minutes, becoming the second-fastest goal ever in the history of a Champions League final. In a warm-up game for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Salah gave two assists after coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 victory against Guinea. In Egypt's match in the tournament 10 days later against DR Congo, Salah scored the first goal in a 2-0 victory. In August, he scored in Liverpool's 4-1 victory against Norwich City in the opening match of the season. In the 2019 UEFA Super Cup, Salah scored the decisive penalty against Chelsea during the penalty shootout following a 2-2 draw at the end of extra time. In September, Salah was among the 55 players nominated for the FIFA FIFPro World 11 Award and was named the captain of the Egyptian national football team. In December, Salah was voted fifth in the 2019 Ballon d'Or and made his 100th Premier League appearance, a 3-0 victory against Bournemouth in which he provided a goal and an assist. Liverpool also won the 2-19 FIFA Club World Cup, and Salah was given the Golden Ball as the player of the tournament. In January 2020, he scored one of the goals in a 2-0 victory against rivals Manchester United and against West Ham United 10 days later. This made it the first time that Liverpool had beaten every team in the Premier League in one season. In March, he scored in a 2-1 win against Bournemouth(his 70th goal in 100 appearances for Liverpool, breaking Fernando Torres' record of 63). Salah' 20th goal of the season made him the first Liverpool to score in all competitions in three consecutive seasons since Michael Owen between 2000-01 and 2002-03. In June, he scored in a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace, helping his team grow nearer to the title. Eventually, Liverpool won the Premier League. In September, he scored a hat-trick in the first match of the season in a 4-3 win against Leeds United(becoming the first Liverpool player to score in four consecutive season openers, the second player in Premier League history and the first player to score a hat-trick for Liverpool in a season opener since John Aldrige in 1988. In October, he scored his 100th goal for Liverpool in all competitions in a 2-2 away draw against Everton, his 159th game(becoming the first player to achieve the milestone since Steven Gerrard in 2008 and the third fastest in Liverpool's history). He is also the fastest player to score 100 goals for Liverpool only in the Premier League/First Division. In January 2021, he scored two goals against West Ham, becoming the fifth Liverpool player to score more than 20 goals in all competitions for four consecutive seasons, and his second goal was voted the Premier League Goal of the Month. In April, he scored in a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United, becoming the first Liverpool player to score 20 goals in three different Premier League campaigns. In May, he scored in a 4-2 away win against Manchester United(Liverpool's first away win at Old Trafford since 2014; this also made Salah the only Liverpool player to score at Old Trafford in two different games in a season). In Liverpool's first match in the 2021-22 season, Salah scored one goal and gave two assists in a 3-0 victory over Norwich(becoming the first player to score in the opening game of five consecutive seasons). In September, he scored his 100th Premier League goal in a 3-0 away win against Leeds United. Over two weeks later, he scored his 100th Premier League goal for Liverpool in a 3-3 away draw against Brentford. Becoming the fastest Liverpool player to reach 100 goals in the Premier League, he achieved the milestone in 151 matches(just quicker than Roger Hunt's 152). The goal also allowed Salah to join Liverpool's top 10 all time goalscorer list. In October, he became the first Liverpool player to score in nine consecutive games after scoring a brace in a 3-2 away win against Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League(his second goal saw him become Liverpool's highest goalscorer in the history of the competition with 31 goals). In October he scored a hat-trick against their arch-rivals Manchester United in a 5-0 victory(becoming the highest-scoring African player in the Premier League and the first Liverpool player to score in ten consecutive games and the first player to score at Old Trafford three games in a row). He also became the first opposition player to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford since Cristiano Ronaldo and the first to do so in the Premier League. In December, he scored a brace in a 4-1 victory over Everton; Liverpool then became the first team in the Premier League to score at least two goals in 18 consecutive games in all competitions. Six days later, he scored Liverpool's opening goal in a 2-1 victory over AC Milan, causing Liverpool to become the first English Club to win all of their group stage matches in the competition's history. The goal was Salah's goal, and he became the first Liverpool player since Ian Rush to score 20 goals in five consecutive seasons. He also scored in Liverpool's 301 victory against Newcastle United 9 days later, his 15th consecutive match that he provided a goal or assist. In February 2021, he scored in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Norwich, becoming the tenth player to score 150 goals in all competitions. In April 2022 he became the first player in the Premier League to score 5 goals against Manchester United after scoring a brace in a 4-0 win against them, which briefly put Liverpool in the top of the league table.
Honours[]
Basel[]
- Swiss Super League: 2012-13, 2013-14
Liverpool[]
- Premier League: 2019-20
- EFL Cup: 2021-22
- UEFA Champions League: 2018-19
- UEFA Super Cup: 2019
- FIFA Club World Cup: 2019
Individual[]
- CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year: 2012
- UAFA Golden Boy: 2012
- Swiss Super League Player of the Year: 2013
- El Heddaf Arab Footballer of the Year: 2013, 2017, 2018
- A.S. Roma Player of the Season: 2015-16
- Globe Soccer Best Arab Player of the Year: 2016
- CAF Team of the Year: 2016(substitute), 2017, 2018, 2019
- Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2017, 2021
- Premier League Player of the Month: November 2017, February 2018, March 2018, October 2021
- Premier League Goal of the Month: January 2021, October 2021
- PFA Player of the Month: November 2017, December 2017, February 2018, March 2018, December 2018, January 2019, April 2019, September 2021, October 2021, February 2022
- BBC African Footballer of the Year: 2017, 2018
- African Footballer of the Year: 2017, 2018
- Goal Arab Player of the Year: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
- PFA Players' Player of the Year Award: 2017-18
- FWA Footballer of the Year: 2017-18
- Premier League Golden Boot: 2017-18, 2018-19
- Premier League Player of the Season: 2017-18
- PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2017-18, 2020-21
- Liverpool Fans' Player of the Season Award: 2017-18, 2020-21
- Liverpool Players' Player of the Season Award: 2017-18, 2020-21
- PFA Fans' Player of the Year Award: 2017-18, 2020-21
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017-18
- ESM Team of the Year: 2017-18
- Onze d'Argent: 2017-18
- Honorary Citizen of the Chechen Republic: 2018
- Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine: 2018
- FIFA Puskas Award: 2018
- FIFA Club World Cup Golden Ball: 2019
- FSA Player of the Year: 2018, 2021
- Time 100: 2019
- Liverpool Goal of the Season: 2018-19
- GQ Middle East Man of the Year Award: 2019
- Fans' Footballer of the Year Award: 2020, 2021
- IFFHS CAF Men's Team of the Year: 2020, 2021
- IFFHS Best CAF Men's Player of the Decade: 2011-2020
- IFFHS CAF Men's Team of the Decade: 2011-2020
- BBC Premier League Player of the Year: 2021
Records[]
England[]
- Most goals in a 38-game Premier League season: 32 goals in 2017–18
- Most games scored in during a Premier League season: 24 games in 2017–18
- Most goals by an African player in a Premier League season: 32 goals in 2017–18
- Most Premier League Player of the Month awards in a single season: 3 (November 2017, February 2018 and March 2018)
- Most left-footed goals scored in a season: 25 goals in 2017–18
- Most teams scored against in a Premier League season: 17 teams (shared with Ian Wright and Robin van Persie)
- First player to outscore three Premier League teams in a Premier League season: West Brom (31), Swansea City (28) and Huddersfield Town (28) in 2017–18
- First player to score on the opening day of five consecutive Premier League seasons (2017–18 to 2021–22)
- Highest-scoring African player in Premier League history: 119 goals
Liverpool[]
- Most goals in a debut season: 44 goals in 2017–18
- Most European goals in a season: 11 goals in 2017–18 (shared with Roberto Firmino)
- Most games scored in during a single campaign: 34 games in 2017–18
- Most top-flight goals in a season by a Liverpool player: 32 goals in Premier League 2017–18 (shared with Ian Rush)
- Most Liverpool Player of the Month awards in a season: 7 months in 2017–18
- Fastest player to score 50 goals for Liverpool: 65 games in 2018–19
- Fastest Liverpool player to score 50 Premier League goals: 69 games in 2018–19
- Most goals in the first 100 appearances overall in Liverpool history: 69 goals
- Most goals in first 100 Premier League appearances in Liverpool history: 70 goals
- Highest scorer for Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League: 34 goals
- First Liverpool player to score 20+ goals in four different Premier League seasons: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
- Fastest player to score 100 top-flight goals in Liverpool history: 151 games
- Most consecutive games a player has scored for Liverpool: 10 games in 2021–22
Egypt[]
- Egypt's all-time highest scorer in FIFA World Cup history: 2 goals in 2018 (shared with Abdulrahman Fawzi)
- Egypt's all-time highest scorer in CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualification: 18 goals
Italy[]
- Highest-scoring Egyptian player in Serie A history: 35 goals in 81 matches