Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah Ghaly (Egyptian Arabic: محمد صـلاح‎‎; born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer, who plays for Liverpool and the Egypt national team as a winger/forward.

As well as representing the Egyptian national team since 2011, he also participated in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics. He won the Swiss Super League in his first season with Basel, and was awarded the CAF Most Promising African Talent of the Year in 2012.[3] In 2013, he was awarded the SAFP Golden Player award for being the best player in the Swiss Super League.

El Mokawloon
Salah played his youth football with El Mokawloon. He played his debut in their senior team in the Egyptian Premier League being substituted in on 3 May 2010 in the 1–1 away draw against El Mansoura. During the 2010–11 season Salah advanced and became a regular in the team. He scored his first goal for them on 25 December 2010 during the 1–1 away draw against El Ahly. He remained a regular for El Mokawloon, appearing in every game of the 2011–12 season. However, following the Port Said Stadium disaster, early February 2012, the Egyptian Premier League stopped and all subsequent matches were postponed. On 10 March 2012, the Egyptian Football Association announced their decision to cancel the remainder of the season.[4]

2012–13 season
Swiss Super League club Basel had been monitoring Salah for some time, and after the Port Said Stadium disaster the club organised a friendly match with the Egypt U-23 team. This match took place on 16 March in the Stadion Rankhof, in Basel, and despite Salah only playing during the second half, he scored twice. The game ended in a 4–3 win for the Egypt U-23 team.[5] Basel subsequently invited Salah to remain in the city for a week's training. On 10 April 2012, it was announced that Salah had signed for Basel on a four-year contract starting from 15 June 2012.[6][7]

Salah scored on his unofficial debut on 23 June 2012 against Steaua Bucureşti during a friendly match, a 4–2 defeat. He made his official Basel debut in a UEFA Champions Leaguepreliminary stage match against the Norwegian club Molde on 8 August, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute. He made his league debut on 12 August against Thun, playing the full match. He scored his first league goal a week later, the second goal in the 2–0 home win against Lausanne. Salah scored his first Europa League goal in the quarter-finals on 11 April 2013, as Basel advanced to the semi-finals by beating Tottenham Hotspur 4–1 on penalties after a 4–4 aggregate draw.[8] In the semi-final on 2 May, Salah scored against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, although they were beaten 2–5 on aggregate.[9] Despite late disappointment in Europe, Basel comfortably won the Swiss Super League season 2012–13 Championship title[10] and finished runners-up in the Swiss Cup.[11]

2013–14 season
To the start of the 2013–14 Swiss Super League season Salah was member of the Basel team that won the 2013 Uhrencup.[12] Salah scored on his first league appearance against Aarau on 13 July 2013.[13]

He scored his first Champions League goal a month later against Maccabi Tel Aviv on 6 August 2013 in the third qualifying round.[14] Before the first leg on 30 July 2013, Salah did not take part in the UEFA-mandated pre-match handshakes with Maccabi players. Basel called the incident a "coincidence" and said it was not intended as a snub. Salah was on pressure from several Egyptian voices demanding from him not to travel to Israel and then criticizing his visit. On the return leg in Tel Aviv, he took part in the handshake line, but offered fist bumps rather than an open hand to Maccabi players.[15]

He scored twice against the Bulgarian league champions PFC Ludogorets Razgrad on 21 August 2013 in the play-off round.[16] On 18 September 2013, Salah scored the equalizer against Chelsea in the 2–1 away win during the group stage, During the return tie on 26 November at the St. Jakob-Park, Salah scored the winning goal as Basel beat Chelsea for the second time with a 1–0 home win.[17]

2013–14 season
On 23 January 2014, Chelsea announced that a deal had been agreed with Basel to bring Salah to London for a fee reported to be in the region of £11 million.[18] On 26 January 2014, Chelsea announced they had completed the signing of Salah, making him the first Egyptian to sign for the Stamford Bridge club.[19] On 8 February 2014, Salah made his debut for Chelsea in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute, in the 3–0 win over Newcastle United.[20] On 22 March 2014, Salah scored his first goal for Chelsea against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the London Derby, coming on as a substitute for Oscar, in a match which ended a 6–0 win for the Blues.[21] On 5 April 2014, Salah opened the scoring and later won a penalty and an assist in Chelsea's 3–0 win over Stoke City.[22]

2014–15 season
Before the season, his future with Chelsea looked to be in a balance after reports suggested he could be forced to return to Egypt to carry out military service after his registration for an education scheme rescinded by the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education.[23] Later, it was reported that he has been spared of military service after the meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab, the Minister of Higher Education and the Egyptian national manager Shawky Gharib.[24] Salah changed squad numbers from 15 to 17 for the start of the 2014–15 season, with his new number having been vacated by Eden Hazard changing to number 10.[25]

Salah's season debut came against Swansea City on 13 September 2014, playing the last eight minutes of Chelsea's 4−2 home win in place of Cesc Fàbregas.[26] He made his first start of the season at home to Bolton Wanderers in the third round of the League Cup on 24 September, featuring in a 2–1 win.[27]

Although Salah only made three league appearances before his loan move to Fiorentina, José Mourinho stated that he would receive a winner's medal for his contributions this season.[28]

Loan to Fiorentina
On transfer deadline, 2 February 2015, Chelsea confirmed that Salah would play for the Italian club Fiorentina on 18-month loan until the end of the 2015–16 season, as part of a transfer deal which saw Juan Cuadrado moving in the opposite direction. Salah chose the number 74 shirt in honor of the victims of the Port Said Stadium riot.[29][30][31] Six days after signing, he made his Fiorentina debut coming off the bench in the 65th minute as a replacement for Joaquín in a 3−2 Serie A victory against Atalanta at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.[32]

Salah made his first start for Fiorentina on 14 February against Sassuolo, scoring his first goal for the club in the 30th minute. He then provided an assist to Khouma Babacar just two minutes after scoring; the match ended in a 3−1 win for Fiorentina.[33] Twelve days after that, Salah scored his first European goal for Fiorentina, as his side advanced to the Round of 16 of the Europa League, beating Tottenham 3−1 on aggregate.[34][35] Salah scored the winning goal for Fiorentina against Internazionale on 1 March, his third goal in Serie A.[36]Four days after that, Salah scored both of Fiorentina's goals in their 2–1 win away to Juventus in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.[37]

At the end of the season, Fiorentina reportedly activated an option to make the loan move permanent, but Salah refused the move. Even though the loan agreement was for 18 months, Salah refused to return to Fiorentina and instead joined Serie A rivals A.S. Roma.[38][39]

2015–16: Loan to Roma
On 6 August 2015, Salah joined Roma on a season-long loan for €5 million; with the option to make the deal permanent.[40][41] He made his debut on 22 August, as the new season began with a 1–1 draw at Hellas Verona.[42] On September 11 2015, ACF Fiorentina filed a complaint to FIFA with the claim that Chelsea alleging breach of contract when they allowed Salah to join Roma on loan.[43]

On 20 September 2015, Salah scored his first goal of the season against Sassuolo to help Roma salvage a point as the match ended in a 2–2 draw.[44] He went on to score in his following two matches, 2–1 loss against Sampdoria[45] and 5-1 win against Carpi.[46] On 25 October 2015, Salah returned to Artemio Franchi stadium, scoring the opener against his former Serie A side Fiorentina to help earn a fourth straight league win for Roma. In his return, Salah was also sent off after picking up a second yellow in the closing minutes of the game.[47]

At the end of the season, Salah was named Player of the Season due to his incredible first season, finishing as the club's top goalscorer with 15 goals in all competitions (14 in Serie A) and six assists.[48]

2016–17: Permanent move to Roma
On 3 August 2016, Roma made the deal permanent for a reported €15 million.[49][50]

Liverpool
On 22 June 2017, Salah agreed a transfer to Liverpool. He signed a long-term contract with the Reds for an initial €42m fee that could rise to up to €50m.[51] The fee was a club record, eclipsing the £35m spent on Andy Carroll in 2011.[52] He was assigned the number 11 shirt previously worn by Roberto Firmino who instead switched to number 9. He joined the club on 1 July 2017 upon the opening of the summer transfer window, becoming Liverpool's first ever Egyptian player.[53]

International career
Salah made 11 appearances for the Egypt U-20 team and Egypt U-23 team, representing Egypt in both 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics, scoring in all three of the team's group matches in the latter tournament, helping them to the quarter-finals.

On 3 September 2011, Salah made his debut for the Egypt national football team in the 2–1 away defeat by Sierra Leone. He scored his first goal for Egypt's first team in the 3–0 win against Niger one month later. He later scored a goal in the 93rd minute in stoppage time against Guinea to give Egypt an important 3–2 away victory in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

On 9 June 2013, Salah scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 away win against Zimbabwe as Egypt won their fourth consecutive match in the World Cup qualifiers.[54] A week later in the following match, he scored the only goal away to Mozambique, putting Egypt into the final qualifying group.[55] Salah later scored his sixth goal in a qualification match to the joint-top scorer among all African teams in the qualification stages.

Salah was a member of the Pharaohs' squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon. On 25 January 2017, he scored the only goal of Egypt's 1–0 win over Ghana to secure first place in Group D.[56] He went with the Egyptians all the way to the final, scoring twice and assisting two times in 6 games, earning him a place in the CAF Team of the tournament.[57]

Style of play
A quick, mobile, hard-working and tactical player, with good technique and an eye for goal, Salah is predominantly known for his speed, dribbling skills, first touch, and ball control, as well as his ability to utilise both his pace and flair on the ball in order to beat opponents, and create scoring opportunities for himself or his teammates.[58][59][60][61][62][63] A versatile forward, he primarily plays as a winger on the right flank, a position which allows him to cut onto his stronger left foot shoot on goal[64] or play quick exchanges with other players, although he can also play in the centre behind the main striker as either an attacking midfielder or second striker.[58] Upon signing for Chelsea, José Mourinho said of Salah: "He's young, he's fast, he's creative, he's enthusiastic. When we analysed him he looks the kind of humble personality on the pitch, ready to work for the team."[65] Mourinho went on to say that Salah has "similar qualities" with "talented players" that he had worked with, such as Gareth Bale and Arjen Robben.[66] His technical skills, pace, position and direct playing style have led him to be nicknamed the "Egyptian Messi", in the Italian media.[59][60]

Club

 * As of 7 May 2017.[67]

International goals

 * Egypt score listed first, score column indicates score after each Salah goal.

Club

 * Basel[67]
 * Swiss Super League: 2012–13, 2013–14
 * Chelsea
 * Premier League: 2014–15[95]
 * Football League Cup: 2014–15[95]

International

 * Egypt
 * African Youth Championship Bronze Medal: 2011[96][97]
 * Africa Cup of Nations: Runner-up 2017[98]

Individual

 * UAFA Golden Boy: 2012
 * CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year: 2012[3]
 * CAF Team of the Year: 2016[99]
 * SAFP Golden Player - Swiss Golden Player Award for best player in the Swiss Super League: 2013[100]
 * Top scorer in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) with 6 goals (Shared with Mohamed Aboutrika and Asamoah Gyan)[101]
 * Roma Player of the Season: 2015–16[102]
 * Globe Soccer Awards Best Arab Player of the Year: 2016[103]