Mohamed Salah interview: Liverpool's humble hero on why individual records mean nothing if the team doesn't win

The free-scoring Egyptian is frontrunner for the Golden Boot but has bigger prizes in mind before the end of a truly astonishing debut season at Anfield

Mohamed Salah wants to add trophies to his individual accolades (Getty)

Ok, Mohamed; we know the team is important – that there are ten others beside you on any given matchday and all that really matters is a Liverpool victory. We also know there are four league games to play – possibly seven in total; we know nothing is settled yet.

Forty goals, though, Mohamed – you’re the fastest player in Liverpool’s history to reach that landmark – what does it mean? “It’s a great feeling. Of course, it’s a great feeling. But you know I said in the end I am happy to score, happy to help the team, that’s it.”

Forty-seven, Mohamed! Forty-seven – that’s Ian Rush’s record in one season: can you do it?

“It’s also very close, it’s just seven goals. But let’s see! It’s still, I don’t know how many games there is to go, but we have the Premier League and semi-finals of the Champions League to play. I will try my best to score again and help the team.”

Salah scored once again on Saturday as Liverpool saw off Bournemouth (Liverpool FC)

It was that sort of conversation on Saturday evening after Liverpool had worn Bournemouth down to the point of submission. Mohamed Salah’s mood was much chirpier and his approach far more engaging than the quotes might suggest when read out loud. His English is perfect, his accent a smooth Arabic rhyme. He comes across as being shy and modest but that does not mean he is not driven or smart.

You sense he doesn’t really want to say anything that could compromise the possibilities in the next few weeks, something he might regret. Maybe this will change if he wins Golden Boot. There will be a palpable collective success to discuss if Liverpool take the Champions League as well.

Presently, Salah is letting his football do the talking for him. When Liverpool supporters fell in love with Fernando Torres, it was because of his goals but also because he seemed to understand the values of the club. When Liverpool supporters fell in love with Luis Suárez, it was because of his goals but it was also because of the feeling he was misunderstood – much like Liverpool as a city itself.

Liverpool supporters are falling in love with Salah because his achievements this season have eclipsed the other two. His achievements are truly astonishing. Because it feels like he scores every week – because his consistency is so remarkable – it has come to be expected of him and in the absent thoughts of some, this might diminish the scale of what he is actually doing. Where you have consistency, you have expectation and sometimes where there is expectation, there is not as much pleasure.

It was the 40th of a remarkable debut season for the Reds (Liverpool FC)

Salah would admit he thinks about the Golden Boot. “Of course, I cannot lie – it is in my mind,” he said, going a little further before returning to stock. “But you know, you can see today with the team everyone tries to pass the ball to me to help me. I am also sure that Tottenham’s players try to help Harry Kane, and also Manchester City’s try to help Sergio Aguero. It’s like that, but in the end, we play as a team.”

As Salah was speaking, Virgil van Dijk strode past at just the right moment. Van Dijk did not join the discussion but he offered his opinion on why his teammate has been able to set such high standards. “Lucky,” van Dijk said casually, smirking. Perhaps this, everything else said by Salah and indeed Jürgen Klopp in another room reflects the relationships in this Liverpool team that contributes towards the anything is possible atmosphere, but only if you stay humble.

Salah has his eyes on bigger prizes before the end of the season (AFP)

There is in fact a need to “stay angry” as Klopp says because at Liverpool, praise can often come too soon when the good times start to roll and with praise, as Joe Fagan once said, “You soften the b*stards up.” Fagan, of course, was the Liverpool manager that won the European Cup in Rome against AS Roma.

Salah would credit others for his own success. “You know you can see with Bobby Firmino, he scores a lot of goals this season. It’s also a different season for him. I think the way we play it gives us more chances to score. The way we play helps us a lot to be in front of the goal all the time.”

Maybe it is James Milner’s emergence that tells you what you need to know about the mood inside Klopp’s Liverpool. Who would have thought six months ago that Milner would become a key midfielder again, that he’d enter Twitter, wind up Evertonians in his first posts, and then start on Kane using emojis? ‘Another hat-trick for Mo today,' Milner wrote on Saturday, even though Salah had only scored the once. ‘Just waiting for the other two to be confirmed by the claims panel.’

Salah had himself used social media to express his surprise at the awarding of a goal at Stoke to Kane, who had challenged his own teammate to earn it. At Liverpool, meanwhile, you have Salah chasing records and Trent Alexander-Arnold taking free-kicks off him. The right back is nineteen years old. It leaves behind an impression that Salah and this Liverpool team is desperate to achieve something together. “To win the Champions League is huge for everyone,” Salah concluded. “I don’t care about the rest.”