Salah: “Drogba Told Me to Break the Record”

Mohamed Salah is an absolute treat to watch and support. Not merely the effervescent spark of his elite level of play, but the brilliant, sun-sized wattage of his joyful personality makes it so incredibly easy to fall for him. At once charmingly humble and playfully confident, Salah is the small-town kid made good.

That playful confidence of his - assured, but not cocky - was on full display when he spoke with the L’Equipe about his prolific league campaign. In referencing his new record of most goals scored in a Premier League season by an African player, Salah revealed that he had spoken to the previous holder - Ivorian striking legend, Didier Drogba - ahead of his history-making run-in.

“When I reached 20 goals, I spoke with Didier Drogba.

“He told me: ‘Please, break the record!’ to which I responded laughing: ‘No worries, I will!’

Salah obviously ended the season with 32 goals in the league, not only setting outpacing Drogba’s former high-water mark of 29 goals during the 2009-2010 season, but setting a new record for goals scored in a 38-match Premier League campaign. Making Salah the goal scoring King of the North, as it were.

According to the comments, Salah’s chat with Drogba took place in February, after Mo notched his 20th goal of the campaign. There’s that confidence.

When reflecting on this past season, Mo had a simple response.

“It’s a great source of joy for me.”

Indeed. And it was a great source of joy for the Reds fans all over the world, Mo. Here’s to a successful World Cup run ahead of more goals in front of the Kop next season. All hail the King of the North!