Newcastle inadvertently played a role in shaping Mohamed Salah into the formidable player he is today by giving him a baptism by fire in English football over 10 years ago.
As Liverpool’s key player, Salah will face off against the Magpies in the Carabao Cup final, with the Reds aiming to secure their first trophy under Arne Slot and Newcastle desperate to claim a first major honour since 1969.
This season, Salah has been arguably the world’s best player, with an impressive 32 goals and 22 assists across all competitions. Since joining Liverpool in 2017, he has been the team’s standout performer, but it took him some time to adjust to the English game initially.
After moving to Chelsea in 2014, Salah struggled to adapt to the demands of the Premier League. He made his debut against Newcastle, coming off the bench for the final 12 minutes, and was taken aback by the level of physicality on display.
In a recent interview with Optus Sport, Salah recalled the match: “I remember the first game I played, it was against Newcastle. I just got tackled on the sideline like: ‘Boom’, and I thought: ‘How am I going to survive here? I need to go to the gym’.
“I know that is very intense, but I love it in a way. There’s space there, we can play and enjoy football. It’s not like other leagues, like the Italian league is very compact, but I love the games with the speed and the intensity.”
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Salah didn’t quite cut it at Chelsea and was loaned out to Fiorentina and then Roma, where he made a permanent move in the summer of 2016.
He made his return to the Premier League with Liverpool the following season and, as they say, the rest is history.
However, his future at Anfield is still up in the air, with his current contract set to run out at the end of this season. There’s been no progress in negotiations so far, which means that, as it stands, Salah could be leaving Liverpool on a free transfer.
This has sparked fresh rumours that a lucrative move to Saudi Arabia might be in the pipeline. Al-Ittihad are known to be big fans, having had a nine-figure bid turned down in the summer of 2023, but it’s still unclear where Salah will end up next season.
