On 22 June 2017, Liverpool announced the signing of Mohamed Salah from AS Roma. At the end of his first season with them, Mo was named Roma’s Player of the Season for 2015-16. The following season he was Roma’s second highest goal scorer (behind Edin Dzeko, who was the beneficiary of seven assists from Salah) with 19 goals, 11 assists in 40 appearances.
With his lightning quick pace and his skill on the ball, most of the Liverpool support base seemed excited about our signing, but of course, he also had the Chelsea reject banner hanging over him even though those words have held very little weight in recent seasons. No one could however have predicted his amazing form that has held us all captivated and with the Champions League final a mere eight days away, Mo Salah’s season is not over yet! He would need to score a hattrick against Real Madrid next Saturday to match Ian Rush’s outstanding 47 goals in all competitions during the 1983-84 season.
Let’s look back at what Mo has achieved since August 12th, 2017…
- He matched the record of 12 different Liverpool players by scoring on his debut against Watford on the opening match of the 2017-18 season after being an LFC player for a mere 57 minutes.
- Having scored three goals and been the provider of two assists in his first five games, Salah went on to be named LFC Player of the Month for August. He was named the POTM again in September and won it a total of seven times this season, officially winning the most POTM awards in a season.
- In November 2017, Salah scored against Chelsea in our 1 – 1 draw at home and became the quickest Liverpool player to reach ten goals, having done so in 13 games.
- In the final game of 2017, Salah scored two goals against Leceister City, taking his total to 23 goals in 29 games and equalled Roger Hunt’s record from the 1961-62 season.
- Salah became the quickest LFC player to reach 25 goals when he scored against West Brom during our FA Cup tie in January this year. It had taken him 32 games to do so which made him the fastest player to do so in 102 years.
- In February, Salah scored two scintillating goals (his 20th and 21st of the season) in our frustrating 2-2 draw at home against Spurs and became the fastest LFC Player to reach 20 Premier League goals, beating Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge in reaching that tally in fewer games.
- Those two goals against Spurs also saw Salah become the highest scoring Egyptian player in Premier League history (this included his two PL goals during his time at Chelsea) with a total of 23 breaking Mido’s record of 22 goals.
- Salah went on to break Robbie Fowler’s record of most left footed goals in a Premier League season when he scored his 20th left footed goal against West Ham in our 4 – 1 win. Fowler had reached 19 left footed goals during the 1994-95 season and Salah went on to add to his left footed tally, finishing the season with 25 left footed goals.
- Having won the Premier League Player of the Month award for November and February, Salah became the first ever player to win three in the same season when he was named the PL POTM again in March this year.
- Salah would score four goals in our 5 – 0 decimation of Watford at Anfield in March, taking his total to 36 goals in all competitions – which saw him break Fernando Torres record of most goals by an LFC Player in a debut season. Torres had scored 33 goals in all competitions during his first season as a Red.
- In April, Salah scored his 30th Premier League goal of the season in our 3 – 0 win over Bournemouth, overtaking Didier Drogba who had scored 29 PL goals and became the highest scoring African player in a Premier League season. Salah eventually finished the season on 32 Premier League goals.
- That same goal against Bournemouth was also Salah’s 40th goal in all competitions and made him the fastest LFC player to reach the 40-goal mark, doing so in 45 games. The previous record had been 49 games.
- His goal against Brighton on the final day of the Premier League season, saw Salah break the Premier League record of most goals in a 38 game Premier League season with 32. The previous tally had been 31, a feat only Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and Alan Shearer had achieved in seasons gone by.
- Salah also broke the record for scoring in the most games in a Premier League season, doing so in 24 different PL matches. The previous record had been 21, held jointly by Cristiano Ronaldo (2007-08) and Robin van Persie (2012-13).
- His goal against Brighton last Sunday also saw Salah match the record for most opponents scored against in a Premier League season – 17 different teams in a single season.
- And finally, Salah’s total of 32 Premier League goals meant that he had scored more goals than some of the other Premier League teams… Salah is the first player to outscore three Premier League teams in a season, having outscored West Brom (31), Swansea (28) and Huddersfield Town (28).
Now all we need, is a Mo Salah hattrick next weekend… Would be a fitting end to a truly unique and phenomenal season.