Mohamed Salah is primed to follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s example

Liverpool knocked back a mega-money bid from Saudi Arabia over the summer to keep Mohamed Salah at Anfield, and the Egyptian star has shown age is just a number.

Mohamed Salah is primed to follow Cristiano Ronaldo’s example by playing well into his thirties, with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp talking up the Egypt international’s longevity.

 

Salah was the subject of interest from the Saudi Pro League towards the end of the summer transfer window, with Liverpool knocking back an offer worth up to £150m. He has since scored nine goals in his first 12 appearances of the season, keeping Liverpool in title contention and helping them put one foot in the Europa League knockout stages.

 

When Liverpool turned down that summer approach, Salah’s age was mentioned by some who felt the money was too good to turn down for a 31-year-old. However, based on comments from Klopp, the Reds’ No.11 could have many more years at the top ahead of him.

“Off the pitch he behaves like a grown-up man, besides that he is just still a young player,” Klopp said of the former Roma star. “It’s like that. He’s top fit. I think if we would really scan him, the majority of his bones are probably 19 or 20, because he just keeps himself in such a good shape.

 

“It’s with game understanding. That’s what we try to give young players. So, they all know an awful lot about football when they finish their career at 35, but the earlier you can get this information the more useful it is.”

 

Salah has scored three goals in his last two matches, with a late effort against Toulouse seeing him surpass Thierry Henry as the Premier League player with the most goals in UEFA competitions. His 146 Premier League goals – 144 of which have come in Liverpool colours – leave him just outside the top 10 in the Premier League’s all-time standings.

Former Manchester United star Ronaldo moved to the Saudi Pro League shortly before his 38th birthday. When he was Salah’s age, Ronaldo was scoring at a rate of around a goal per game for Real Madrid, and the Portugal international’s diet has been heavily publicised during conversations over his physical condition.

“Obviously with Mo that’s clear, he understands the spaces much better, he knows how players react to him, and then if he cannot score he can still be a threat for us, and that’s really super-important,” Klopp added. “How I said, the Everton game obviously will not go down in history performance-wise, but then scoring two goals is massive.

 

“In other games, playing much better and not scoring but being constantly a threat, is for us as important because that really opens up spaces for all the other boys. You might be right, but I cannot compare Mo to other 30-odd-year-old players because I don’t think biologically he is [30s]!”