He may have just been kept without a goal or assist in three consecutive games for the second time this year, but there is no denying Mohamed Salah’s debut season at Anfield has been one for the ages. With 43 goals and 13 assists in all competitions, the Egyptian has taken Merseyside and the Premier League by storm, and with two games still to go, is still in with a chance at both the league and Liverpool goalscoring records, standing at 31 and 47 goals, respectively.
It is little surprise, then, that the 25-year old has been sweeping the awards scene all year. Since joining the Reds in the summer, Salah has notched the African Player of the Year, the BBC African Footballer of the Year, the Football Writer’s Association’s Footballer of the Year, the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, two Premier League Player of the Month awards, and seven Standard Chartered Player of the Month awards, in addition to making both the CAF Africa’s Finest XI and PFA Teams of the year.
It is quite a list for a man who was billed by many as little more than a speed merchant following his £34.3m transfer from Roma last summer, and on Thursday, he added two more, as both fans and team mates voted the former Chelsea reject to the top of their Player of the Season polls, presented at the LFC Players’ Awards.
The Golden Boot and the Ballon d’Or, given to the top scorer and the best player in Europe, respectively, remain on the docket, with Salah sitting three goals behind Lionel Messi in the battle for the former, and the latter being awarded at the end of the year. Reds fans will undoubtedly hope their Egyptian King can continue his run this year, through the World Cup and into next season, as his success is now inextricably linked with their own.