Mohamed Salah was deservedly named the Premier League’s player of the season last night on the weekend he equalled the record of 31 goals scored in a 38-game season. With three games to go, the chance to take the record outright is there for him.
And while he wants that, and is proud of being named player of the year by his fellow footballers, his top goal right now is to win something with his teammates—which means the focus is on Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final first leg against Roma.
“My personal thing is to win something with the team,” Salah said following his being named PFA player of the year. “The most important thing for me is to win something with the team. We are very close now in the semi-final and hopefully we can win it.”
Still, as much as the focus is on Roma and the Champions League for Liverpool and Salah now, he still wants to get a few more goals in the club’s remaining league games. And if he does so—with a little help from his teammates—it could set another record.
His next goal will see Salah set a new record of 32 goals in a 38-game season, but three more would see him equal the most ever scored in the Premier League—the record of 34 goals scored in a 42-game season by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.
If he does that, he would also seem a near lock to win Europe’s Golden Shoe as the top scorer across all UEFA’s leagues and a race in which Salah is currently two goals up on Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile.
“Of course, the way we play, that’s because of the manager and the team,” he added when asked about his skyrocketing goal return this season. “They pass me the ball all the time and try to find me always, [so] the way we play is very nice for me.
“There’s three games to go. I want to break this record and I want to also break the record for 42 [games]. Thirty-four goals is near now, it’s three goals to go. Let’s see what will happen in the next three games.”