“Where are you from?” “England.” “Whereabouts?” “Liverpool.” “Liverpool? Ah, Mo Salah!”
My partner, Lizzie, and I found ourselves conducting the exact same conversation countless times with locals during a recent holiday to Egypt. It did not take long to work out the pattern of this groundhog day back-and-forth.
“We love Mo Salah! Liverpool though,” accompanied by an unimpressed look on the participating Egyptian face. “It has been a bad season. Is he leaving?”
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp hints at why Darwin Nunez has not been starting for Liverpool
READ MORE: Fabio Carvalho deal could make sense for Liverpool due to impact of squad rules
Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, has publicly shut down the suggestion of an Anfield exit for the Egyptian King a number of times in his recent months. But that doesn’t stop his adoring compatriots from asking the aforementioned question.
After all, having seen Salah pictured with PSG chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi in London back in January, background speculation linking the 30-year-old with the Ligue 1 giants has persisted overseas. Consider Liverpool’s own failings this season, as, already without any new major silverware, they stare down the real possibility of missing out on Champions League football, and it is not a surprise to see such rumours doing the rounds.
Salah might have signed a new contract with the Reds last summer, extending his Anfield stay until 2025 as he became the best-paid player in Liverpool’s history, but Jurgen Klopp’s side had very nearly landed an unprecedented quadruple little over a month before he put pen to paper on such terms.
Less than a year later and life isn’t as rosy for the Reds, even if Salah’s brace in Liverpool’s 6-1 victory over Leeds United on Monday night took him past the 25-goal barrier for the fifth time in his six seasons on Merseyside.
When it became clear that Lizzie and I would be in Egypt for Liverpool’s trip to Elland Road, I was looking forward to the prospect of watching the Reds’ match with locals.
After all, we have all heard countless times how the Egyptian cafes are packed to the rafters whenever Liverpool, and Salah, are in action with the African country said to be a sea of Red. While to Kopites, the forward is the Egyptian King, to his compatriots he is practically a god.
Yet a different reality greeted us during our week-long stay in Hurghada as we actually struggled to find anywhere to watch the game.
We were greeted by blank looks on Monday afternoon as we queried whether the Liverpool match would be shown in a couple of local cafes, with it appearing to be the case that some locals didn’t even know the Reds were in action that night.
Meanwhile, as we walked past numerous tourist shops, Salah memorabilia was conspicuous by its absence. While you’d see statues of the Pyramids or Tutankhamun’s famous gold mask, not even a bobble-head could be found in stark contrast to the majority of European cities Kopites have taken over on their Champions League travels in recent years.
Regrouping back at our hotel, one barman informed us their screens only showed Egyptian football. He would go to ask his colleagues if another local cafe was showing the game, only to return with a negative answer.
As kick-off neared, we decided to chance our luck and head down the street in the hope of catching glimpse of the game through a cafe window, if not be greeted by a roaring atmosphere should Salah record an early goal.
Our search would at least prove successful, ensuring we only missed the opening five minutes at Elland Road. Yet our presence took the grand total of spectators in our chosen cafe to 10. Packed to the rafters, cheering on Salah, this was not.
The hospitality was appreciated, at least, as we were provided with complimentary popcorn by a welcoming barman. Not your traditional match snack in England, perhaps, especially considering Liverpool’s less than entertaining form at times this season, but when in Rome.
In truth, there was little reaction when Salah scored either of his goals against Leeds. Such a fact was made all the more surreal by the sight of camel rides taking place outside as the match wore on, with many evidently more interested in stroking the animals in question.
Did the locals not realise the 30-year-old had broken just yet another record, becoming the scorer of the most left-footed goals in Premier League history?!
Admittedly Hurghada is 368 miles away from Salah’s home village of Nagrig, near the city of Basyoun, and 287 miles away from Nasr City, Cairo, where the forward first played professionally for Al Mokawloon. To give them the benefit of the doubt, while a rather different narrative to the one we have obtained Salah’s homeland over the past six years, perhaps this part of Egypt just isn’t as obsessed with Liverpool’s Egyptian King?
Yet, we reminded ourselves that on a boat trip earlier that same day, we had seen a number of tourist boats named after Salah, with one even adorning the forward's picture in his 2017/18 Liverpool shirt.
Evidently their love for Salah is clear. Instead, maybe the Reds are actually the problem? Perhaps their struggles this year have seen Egypt slowly switch off when it comes to Klopp’s side?
It’s hardly been enjoyable watching Liverpool scrap for the lowly European places, after all, especially off the back of winning every major honour going in recent seasons.
Premier League records are all well and good, but Salah is the first Egyptian to win the Champions League and Premier League. His compatriots would much prefer to see such accolades repeated and still hold onto the prospect of the forward becoming the first African player to win the Ballon d’Or.
Salah himself at least values the importance of such records, as does his own manager, and could break another against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Should he score against the Tricky Trees, he will move level with Robbie Fowler as the Reds’ sixth all-time leading goalscorer on 183 goals.
A brace would overtake Fowler, while an ambitious four or five-goal haul would see him move up again with Steven Gerrard currently fifth on 186 goals. With eight games of the Premier League season left to play, you wouldn’t bet against Salah making such a place his own before the season is out.
“I’ve worked together with him for so long,” Klopp told reporters on Friday. “Was always stood more or less next to him when he broke the next record, but last week when I heard the most left-footed goals in Premier League history - I have to say that’s insane!
“When you see the names below. Fowler, Van Persie, Giggs, names like this, Premier League greats absolutely. That’s massive.
“Surpassing Robbie in another stat, I know that Mo likes these kind of things and will fill his tank for the game, definitely.
“I don’t know the numbers for his assists but that’s pretty good as well, so he doesn’t forget that it’s nice to break records, but much more important we win the game. For that, sometimes you rather pass the ball than shoot yourself.”
A timely reminder for the 30-year-old as Liverpool continue to observe the Champions League places from a distance, waiting to see if the Reds can play themselves back into top four contention.
Returning to our hotel with a new perspective of how Salah and Liverpool are perceived in Egypt, the barmen would be discussing the match and the Reds’ 'five' goals, obviously unable to watch it themselves, as we went for a celebratory drink.
“It finished 6-1!” we informed them. “Six?! Salah hat-trick?” they queried. “Just the two.” “Good enough,” one chuckled.
Ironically, it would later emerge that one of the same barmen was actually also called 'Mohamed Salah', with his colleagues using his full name at every opportunity. The other Salah would swiftly pull out his ID to prove such a fact to Lizzie. He could mix a good cocktail, but how good is his left foot?!
While to Kopites the Egyptian King is Liverpool’s Salah, to his compatriots it is more a case of Salah’s Liverpool. They have followed his fortunes relentlessly and want to see one of their own continue to lift the biggest prizes football has to offer.
If that is with Klopp’s men, great. But if the Reds are no longer capable of keeping him at Europe’s top table, so be it. They will want to see him playing for a side that can and encourage him to move on accordingly.
He isn’t getting any younger, after all, and has a limited number of seasons ahead of him where he will still be a match for anyone at the elite level of the game. They won’t want to see him missing from next season’s Champions League as a result.
That in itself should act as a warning both to Liverpool and Salah, and a reminder of what their failings this season could cost them. After all, Sadio Mane hasn’t enjoyed the best of fortunes since moving to Bayern Munich, after listening to his own compatriots’ desire to see him step out of his former team-mate’s supposed shadow.
"Like everyone else, I'm on social media and I see the comments," the Senegalese said of his own future last June. "Isn't it between 60 to 70% of Senegalese want me to leave Liverpool? I will do what they want.”
Given Abbas Issa’s recent comments, the possibility of a Salah exit at this time admittedly seems unlikely. Such a prospect has barely even been raised in England and besides, the Egyptian won’t have given up on Champions League qualification just yet.
But when it becomes mathematically impossible, further speculation regarding his future will only be waiting around the corner. Along with the accompanying questions back in Egypt. “Is he leaving?”
Liverpool might have been the benefactors of Salah’s peak years, but his compatriots’ allegiances are clear. This is all about his own individual legacy back home as the Reds continue to enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts. He will remain Egypt's Salah long after his Anfield career comes to an end.
READ NEXT
Jurgen Klopp opens up on Trent Alexander-Arnold's new position for Liverpool
Jurgen Klopp confirms Roberto Firmino injury and possible Liverpool return date
Fabinho admits there is a Liverpool reality he 'doesn't think about'
Agent who oversaw Raheem Sterling transfer from Liverpool to Man City hit with ban
