If there were any questions about Mohmed Salah’s commitment to Liverpool after signing the most lucrative contract in the club’s history last summer, the 2022-23 season will see an emphatic answer.
In just his sixth season at Anfield, the Egyptian, as he has been since joining from AS Roma in 2017, was a rare source of hope for Kopities in a season that finished with Liverpool’s worst Premier League finish since 2016.
Fresh off his lengthy breach of contract, which became a subplot in the Reds’ quest for Premier League and Champions League glory in 2022, Salah enjoyed one of his most devastating campaigns as he scored 30 more goals in Anfield that season.
All the long-term effects of the Champions League defeat in Paris seemed to have been forgotten when Salah made a first letter of intent against Manchester City at the end of July, when he provided a goal and an assist to help Liverpool close the their 16-year wait for a community Shield offensive to end, with Victory at King Power Stadium.
However, as L4 events unraveled over the next few months, it became clear that the forward and his team-mates had indeed created the first of many false dawns as their Premier League campaign began with just four wins in the opening 10 appearances. And while it quickly became clear that there were a whole host of underlying problems facing Jurgen Klopp, especially in midfield, the departure of Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich saw the team enter a period of transition as Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez made their first full campaign in Merseyside.
During a worrisome first half of the campaign, as the Reds suffered defeats to Manchester United, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, Salah’s measly return of six goals in 17 league games had him and his team-mates looking from the outside in when it came to Arsenal and Man City’s fight for the Premier League title.
But as is the case with such ebbs, later came the flows as Salah emerged from the substitutes’ bench to record the fastest-ever Champions League hat-trick during the 7-1 thrashing of Rangers just days before he executed the ultimate smash-and-grab mission over City. In November, the forward’s two-goal salvo at Tottenham Hotspur handed Liverpool a first Premier League away victory in six months.
Soon after, he had the rare chance to reset during November and December as he headed to Dubai with the rest of Liverpool’s non-World Cup contingent. But despite the 3-1 victory at Aston Villa on Boxing Day which gave the Reds the opening of their return to the Premier League, player and team fortunes would continue to suffer before there was any sign of improvement.
That torture came in the form of defeats at Brentford, Brighton – in both the Premier League and FA Cup – and Wolverhampton Wanderers. And a run of just one goal in 360 minutes of league action during that spell represented the lowest point of a chastening season for Klopp’s men.
Despite Salah’s fixation on regaining his name in Anfield’s record books, he has scored 11 goals in his last 15 Premier League games, overtaking Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard on the club’s all-time goalscoring chart. while scoring a double. The historic 7-0 win over Manchester United confirmed his status as Liverpool’s top scorer of the Premier League era.
But despite missing his penalty in the defeat to Bournemouth six days later, the mistreatment of Erik Ten Hag’s side has always been a catalyst for Liverpool in the long run, coinciding with Salah becoming the first player in club history to scorer in eight straight home games.
And when the Reds somehow emerged from the abyss, narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification after a flawless 11-game unbeaten streak in the final weeks of the season, Salah returned to Anfield after his toughest season a relegated position as king as he was part of a sleek, revamped front three alongside Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz.
Of course, the pain of a trophyless season will run deep for the Egypt captain, who became a serial winner during his time on Merseyside, but having just enjoyed his fourth 30-goal season for the club, Salah will be right on too. ready as possible when Liverpool plan a Champions League return.
