Mohamed Salah is undoubtedly the main man at Liverpool, and he may owe this to Andy Robertson.
The Egyptian King has been the Reds‘ standout performer since his arrival in 2017, scoring 221 goals in a period which has seen the club lift both the Premier League and Champions League titles.
Now 32, Salah has shown no signs of slowing down, having spearheaded Arne Slot‘s incredible start to life at Anfield.
Liverpool currently sit five points clear at the Premier League summit, due in no small part to the forward, who has registered ten goals and ten assists in all competitions this campaign.
The Egypt captain’s prolific time with the Reds is a far cry from his previous spell in England’s top flight with rivals Chelsea.
Salah joined the Blues from FC Basel in January 2014 and scored just twice in 19 appearances during two years in London, and was loaned out to Fiorentina and Roma during this time.
But after reviving his career with the Rome side following his permanent exit from Stamford Bridge, Salah has not looked back since his return to England.
And the Egyptian has now revealed how a piece of advice from teammate Andy Robertson set him on the path to success at Anfield.
Speaking on Liverpool’s Reds Roundtable, Salah shared a pivotal conversation between himself and the Scot after his first year at the club, which saw him net 44 goals in 52 games.
He said: “Quite early in Liverpool, after my first year, Robbo came to me and said: ‘Look, when you miss a chance and you go down like this [drop your head], everybody looks at you, and everybody is like, if a superstar is doing that, what are we going to do?’
“So it was a tough day, but since then it’s stuck in my mind, that’s maybe the only positive thing I get from him [laughs].
“So it’s still in my mind, so since then, even when I miss a chance now, I smile.
“Even if you’re a little bit frustrated, but with time you understand the situation comes and goes, emotion comes and goes, and you try to deal with it in the best possible way.”
Robertson’s advice clearly did Salah’s fortunes in front of goal no harm, with the star going on to hit the 20-goal mark in every season since – a target he is on track to meet once again this term.
This included his 31-goal haul in the 2020/21 season, which saw the Reds qualify for the Champions League despite a difficult season which saw injuries to key players Virgil van Dijk and Jordan Henderson.
And Salah revealed how his teammate’s guidance continued to help him during this period, as he opened up on his desire to make every minute of his time at Liverpool count.
He continued: “So the situation we had, I believed inside me it’s not going to stay like this forever, it’s just a situation, it’s going to pass for sure.
“And every day, I mean it, every day, every day I’m in AXA [Liverpool’s training centre] I enjoyed it a lot.
“Because you’re going to look back, and you look at the players that left, I don’t know if they enjoyed it or not. But my time here, I’m enjoying every second of it.
“I just want to look back on my career and say I enjoyed everything.”