Liverpool star Dominik Szoboszlai has said he asked Mohamed Salah for advice on preparation after being impressed by the dedication to his craft at Liverpool.
Salah has become one of the all-time greats at Anfield since moving from Roma in the summer of 2017 and is the club’s leading scorer of the Premier League era with 145 goals.
In total, Salah has scored 196 times for the Reds, which places the 31-year-old inside the top five ever and his professionalism has become renowned in recent years.
Having seen Salah’s way of operating up close since moving from RB Leipzig in the summer for £60m, Szoboszlai revealed he has asked the No.11 for tips to gain any additional advantage while also revealing an unusual method chosen by Manchester City striker Erling Haaland.
“I talked to him a lot because I was interested in how he saw it,” Szoboszlai told Hunagarian outlet Fodball.
“He didn’t do it until he was about 28 years old, then he decided not to eat pasta, bread, basically he doesn’t drink alcohol. He’s been doing this since then, and if there’s training at noon, he’s already in the gym at 10.30. I don’t judge anyone, everyone can do whatever they want.
“When we played in Salzburg I meditated with [Haaland] two or three times because we were in the same room and at first I looked stupid and then I got in. He had a pair of glasses that he wore, and I used them for a while because he said they would make me sleep better and sleepy faster, but if I had, I would wear them now.
“It didn’t help me, but maybe it’s because I didn’t believe in him as much as he did, but that’s everyone’s own business. He does a lot of things that people probably don’t know, but I’ve been to his apartment. The guy is a bit sick.”
Szoboszlai also downplayed comparisons with Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, saying he wants to forge his own path with the Reds while also detailing his burgeoning friendship with Trent Alexander-Arnold.
He added: “Because I’m a box-to-box player, I have to defend as much as attack, but it’s good for me, I’m in front of goal, but I’m also blocking at the back, so that’s clicking. [The Gerrard comparison] doesn’t bother me at all. There are few things they can bother me with. I want to go my own way.
“I told them it was nice to be compared to him, but I wanted to go my own way. If you write the paper now that I will have the same career as Gerrard, I would sign it, but I don’t want to sign it because I want to go my own way.
“It was motivation for me, but I think also for all the players who came this summer, to take this Liverpool and bring it back to where it belongs. Me and Trent are two years apart, so there’s not as much of an age difference and he has a similar mindset to mine on and off the pitch. We understand each other well.
“He also said that if you know how to play football, understand the game and were born to do so, you understand yourself. The first time we went to Manchester for dinner or twisting around was with him, then we got on well, sometimes he comes over, sometimes I pass.
“Every day there is a fight against each other over who should play, who should start. I want to play in every game, even if I’m a little more tired. Every single game here is life and death. It doesn’t matter who you play against, everyone can beat everyone, that’s the good thing about it.”
