Mohamed Salah has been working under Arne Slott for almost two years and the Liverpool manager remembers being impressed when the Egyptian returned in pre-season.
Mo Salah’s pre-season fitness left a mark on Liverpool manager
Arne Slott admits Mohamed Salah made an immediate impression after Liverpool’s victory in the first pre-season fitness test of the summer.
The Dutchman will take over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 and has seen the Egyptian’s quality from afar, but never up close. Over the years, Salah’s dedication to fitness and recovery has been well known.
And Slott saw it up close and personal for the first time when he took charge in pre-season, when Salah came out on top in one of the pre-season tests after returning from the summer. For several seasons, the former Roma forward was a mainstay for the Reds, regularly topping the scoring charts.
But that didn’t stop him from grafting, and Slott was hugely impressed by the determination Salah showed in holding himself accountable.
He told Liverpool’s website: “I started working with him and from the first day I was already impressed with his professionalism, because like any other season, it started with tests in the off-season that showed how much they achieved, and he beat them all.
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“He was the healthiest player to come back. I think that’s the ideal situation you want as a coach, to have a star player come back as healthy as he is. He didn’t have anything to prove, but Mo always thinks he has something to prove every three days, so he had a lot to prove himself. That hunger never stops, and that’s what I think is most special about him.”
Salah has endured a poor campaign despite his high standards and is set to step down in the summer. Prior to this season, the Egyptian had scored more than 20 goals in every year he was at Anfield, scoring 34 last season and winning more individual accolades.
Mo Salah enjoyed one of his best seasons as Liverpool won the title in Arne Slott’s first year (Image: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
The 33-year-old’s almost decade-long exploits have put him in the spotlight as one of the best players in the world, and his never-ending desire to play every minute hasn’t gone unnoticed by Slott.
“There are a lot of great players in the world (and) he is definitely one of them over the last 10 years, everyone says he is one of the best players of the last 10 years. “That hunger every three days, that professionalism, that club, that team. To show his dedication to the team, his desire to score again, his desire to always play. When we sent him off three minutes before the end, he was like, ‘Maybe we could have scored another goal!’ – That’s what stands out to me. ”
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