Paul Fennessy

ONE OF THE most remarkable elements of Mohamed Salah’s story is how unlikely his success was.

There had been great Egyptian footballers before him.

But even the country’s best players, such as Mohamed Aboutrika and Hossam Hassan, for the most part either remained at home for their entire club careers or had short, unsuccessful stints abroad.

Salah was determined to break this trend and become a trailblazer, and he succeeded via a circuitous route.

A new book by Melissa Reddy provides insights into Salah’s dramatic journey, pinpointing how he became not just a great footballer but an influential social figure.

The 42 recently caught up with the journalist and author for an in-depth chat.

What inspired you to write the book?

I’ve been covering Mohamed Salah’s journey since he was in England. What stood out was that there was no real book that underlined the scale of the journey he’s been on – not just in terms of his actual professional career, but his impact around the world and what it meant.

If you go all the way back to when he was 19 and had signed for FC Basel, the impact that had on Egyptians when I went back and looked at the coverage and how an entire country of 110 million people were putting their hopes and their dreams on this kid and what he could make out of his career in Europe.

He had his entire country searching every single word about him, and that means he’s had to hold himself in a certain way. He’s had to think about his career more intensely and in depth, maybe than other people would necessarily have to, because they don’t have that much expectation on them.

Having covered him for so long and worked in the industry, it’s apparent that the portrayal of him and the reality of him are two very different things. So I thought it would be interesting to speak to people who have grown up with him, have spent time with him, have been a teammate, coached him, because I think the perception part of it comes from the fact that he is so unreachable.

You don’t really get many interviews with him unless it’s part of his contractual obligations, which is very limited. Unlike other players, he doesn’t have any PR campaigns or things like that. He’s very to himself. He breaks records, and that is it.

So people then build their framing of him through how he behaves on the pitch, or if he shows his frustrations, and then you get all these narratives of him being selfish or not a good teammate. And when you actually peel back and look at it, you find all the way through that it’s actually the opposite. 

What was the biggest surprise when you delved into the research?

Salah is huge in the Arab world, but we say that, and I don’t think we comprehend fully what that means and how that actually looks on a day-to-day basis, or how that feels for people who are Egyptian.

And even knowing all about Egyptian football because I’ve covered the African Nations Cup, knowing about the Port Said Stadium disaster and just how low Egyptian football was due to that, but also the social and political upheaval in the country.

When you have all those facts, you still don’t fully grasp how much Salah was the poster boy of the country’s rebirth, because they were these perennial AFCON champions, and then the country’s social and political situation infiltrated through to the football, and the football in the country was on its knees. The domestic league was suspended, so everything was at a standstill, which meant the national team suffered. And at that point, Salah was seen as the future.

Everything was on his shoulders at that age, and Mohamed Aboutrika, at the time, was Egypt’s all-time greatest player. So it was the two of them that everybody had turned their hopes on, and Aboutrika would even say himself that this is the guy that’s going to carry the national team forward.

You have testimonies from teammates, administrators, Egyptian football fans, and the journalists at the time, to actually spell out how much pressure was on this 19-year-old and the task in front of him. And when you jump now to what Egypt achieved at the World Cup, led by him, it is a story that is just mind-bending, and it’s one of sheer determination.

Egypt's players from left, Amr Zaki, Essam Al Hadari and Mohamed Aboutrika celebrate with the African Nations Cup trophy in 2006. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Would it be fair to say he is now one of the most famous Egyptians in history?

Definitely, and when you are highlighting other Egyptians burned into the national consciousness of the country, it’s usually politicians or people in literature. But he is special in that he is relatable to everyone because he’s just a normal kid who had a dream, who worked on his talent, and got to where he is through an arduous journey. He didn’t just go straight from Egypt to the top. And I think the Chelsea element is so underplayed.

Egyptian players, because their league was so strong, had no reason to move abroad. But also, culturally, you stay at home, you build a family, you have a nice, peaceful life. You play your football. You go and win the CAF Champions League or compete in it if you’re Al Ahly or Zamalek.

In the few cases that would play in Europe, there would always be a disciplinary question, or the feedback would always be tainted with negativity. They were always homesick. They didn’t want to last the course; they didn’t turn up on time.

And it’s interesting to me that when Salah is negotiating his move to Europe, he’s so conscious about all of those stereotypes, and he makes the decision then: ‘I’m going to do it differently. It doesn’t matter that I can’t speak the language, that I’m going to miss home, that I won’t be able to get the food, that I know it’s going to be horrible. There’s going to be nothingness, but I’m going to lean into that because I want to prove people wrong for the sake of Egyptian football.’

And when you look at the increase of Egyptians in European leagues, that directly correlates with Salah because when you think about him, what did people always reference? His professionalism, how well he conditioned himself, his appetite to be better.

And so people are thinking: ‘Maybe the thoughts that we have on Egyptian footballers are incorrect.’ It also meant that scouting in the region got better. A lot of top and even middle clubs never bothered to look at Egypt at all, and Salah changed that.

And so to go to Chelsea, where he was considered a ‘flop’ and failure, he was irritated at that on a level that’s bigger than the personal, because it would then lead people to lean back on that old [stereotype of] ‘Egyptians just can’t cut it in Europe.’

Mohamed Salah pictured during his time at Chelsea. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

A recurring theme of the book is Salah being underestimated. Do you think that’s connected to the negative perception of Egyptian footballers?

Yeah, I think the Chelsea move is so interesting in all sorts of ways. So you get a very young adult coming over to the country for the first time, and you would expect at a big club that there would be pathways for them to be able to settle more easily. There’s usually always that kind of assistance you need in terms of ‘this is how things work in this country. This is what you need to do.’

Not just from an admin perspective and getting him an apartment, but from a cultural perspective of settling in and ‘this is the culture of the club. This is how the dressing room works,’ and Salah is actually just quite shy and reserved by nature until he’s very comfortable. And then he’s incredibly witty and affable.

So you get this young adult who comes into this dressing room where there are all these massive egos, and it’s very masculine and aggressive, and to John Terry’s credit, he says he should have been a better captain at the time. His approach was very different, looking back at what it should have been and what he would like it to be, and how he would be now as a person in charge of a dressing room.

Instead of looking at: ‘Why are all these really talented young players – Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku – struggling here?’ It was easy to say: ‘He’s just too slender, not cut out for it. Another player that’s just a waste of money.’

Whereas if you look at it, [Eden] Hazard was there. Chelsea’s options in [Salah's] position were ridiculous. The way the dressing room was run was so counter to what he was used to and to his culture.

And what’s interesting as well, even people at Chelsea at the time thought the club only wanted him, so Liverpool couldn’t get him. And when Liverpool eventually did get him, no other big club was fighting for him. 

[Liverpool's then-Director of Research] Ian Graham said there was a little bit of panic because [Liverpool's then-sporting director] Michael Edwards and the recruitment team thought Arsenal would go in for him, because Arsenal absolutely needed a player of his profile, and they had a statistical arm that could pinpoint Mo. Whereas other clubs were lagging with their data, Arsenal were not.

So Liverpool were paranoid, and then they were like, ‘Arsenal are not brave enough to make this move because when they do it, it’s going to be framed as, you’re going for the Chelsea flop.’ And Liverpool, because they ignored the external noise, thought: ‘No, we’re going to do the brave thing here.’

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho (left) and Liverpool's Mohamed Salah after the final whistle during a 2021 Premier League match. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Isn’t it interesting to contrast John Terry’s reaction with then-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who remains reluctant to accept responsibility for showing a lack of faith in Salah?

And to Salah’s credit, when he’s spoken about it, he always looks back and says: ‘I was such a different person. I was young. I was shy. Didn’t really know how to question the coach. I didn’t know that you were allowed to do that, because in Egypt you don’t.’

And he’s actually gone on national TV in Egypt and spoken about allowing players to have their input, to ask the reasoning behind tactical things. So they can understand and learn – it can be a discussion rather than a dictatorship.

And I think when he went to Chelsea, the whole spectre of Mourinho and the fact that it was such a masculine, aggressive environment, and because of his personality and his nature, he always accepts that it just wasn’t the right time for him – and he’s a different person and player now.

But I think everybody in that situation – Salah, John Terry has thought: ‘Maybe I could have done things differently.’ And the odd one out is Mourinho. He will never accept that he was not right for the development of Salah, De Bruyne and the other players that didn’t get a crack under him.

And he always spins this thing off. ‘I wanted to keep him. Chelsea wanted to sell him,’ but I’m not sure because your players at the time are even telling stories about how you treated him in the dressing room, and the fact that you were not giving him minutes. So what was the point in saying you want to keep him? Of course the club is going to sell him.

Salah excelled in Italy with Roma. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Do you think the Chelsea setback helped his career because of the work he ended up undertaking in Italy to develop his game?

So much of what he has become and who he is is owed to that period at Chelsea, where he learned so much about himself. He was really big on self-reflection. And while he wasn’t playing, he was like, ‘Okay, I don’t accept that this is my situation, that this is my level, or that people assume that I’m not good enough to be here. So what can I do about it?’

And through that self-reflection, he thought: ‘Okay, the Premier League is incredibly physical, and I’m not up to the standard to use my body to protect the ball better.’ So already at that stage, Chelsea, he increases his gym work, his focus on strength, and he’s already thinking: ‘The next club I go to, what do I need to ensure [I'm successful]? I know I’m a very direct, decisive player. I need to make sure that where I go next offers me the opportunity and puts the trust in me.’

The other thing to consider is when I referenced how important he is in Egypt. The way the Egyptian media at that time were talking about him. ‘Oh, he’s sitting on the bench at Chelsea. He’s wasting himself away.’ I think all that also played a huge part in him wanting to show: ‘No, this is not how my story goes.’

Because from the age of 19, he was determined. ‘I’m going to create a pathway for Egyptian footballers.’ So he decides: ‘Right, this is not just about me and my career. This is also about the next wave of Egyptians coming through. This is about how people in the country are perceived.’

And when he’s negotiating with Fiorentina and he talks with the club, he mentions all of these things: ‘Am I going to be given minutes to regularly show what I can do, do I have the trust of the coaching staff?’

And then, the huge thing for me, after what happened with Chelsea, he insists on a loan deal. And he gets [his agent] Ramy Abbas to draft a little note on the contract about him having the option of whether the deal becomes permanent, and that leads to the second point of how brave he is to then legally go to war with Fiorentina to move to Roma because he at that stage is like: ‘I know I want to return to the very top, I want to get back to the Premier League, I’m going to go to Roma. I’m going to smash it at Roma,’ and he works on his finishing.

He spends extra time doing strength work. He has [his manager Luciano] Spalletti with him for hours every day, working on the timing of his movements, his work out of possession. He becomes an absolute phenom, and that is all driven by his experience at Chelsea.

Liverpool's (L-R) Wataru Endo, Mohamed Salah. Virgil van Dijk and Arne Slot with the Premier League trophy. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

He went on to establish himself as a Liverpool legend, and arguably the peak was that 2024-25 season – he won all the individual accolades and inspired them to the title, and then a year later, he’s effectively forced out of the club. What’s your take on what happened?

We need to establish how heartbreaking that would have been for Salah, because when he signed his new contract, it felt like peace. This place that he called home, that he’d worked so hard for, that throughout his career he had to fight and work to get to the point that he felt he’d finally achieved: ‘Right, this is where I belong.’

So he finally thought: ‘Okay, this is what I’ve worked so hard for for all my life,’ from essentially sacrificing his youth, his family, his comfort in his culture, and his life.

‘I did it all for this, for my daughters and my wife to be settled somewhere, to have a home, to feel like we belong here,’ and to have that sort of peace and consistency of: ‘Right, this is where I want to finish my career. My daughters love school, so to experience that,’ and then a few months later, have that all thrown up in the air, and to have this sense of being unwanted, and not understanding why so quickly everything has exploded [was difficult].

The contrast between the emotions and how soon it happened hasn’t really been [appreciated].

It’s quite apparent from the moves Liverpool had made last summer that they were looking to reduce their reliance on Salah’s output and ultimately replace it. But how are you planning on doing that while you still have him, when he is your talisman? And from speaking to people at the club, it was thought that ideally Liverpool wouldn’t have extended his contract.

However, because of the season he delivered and fan affection for him, that really wasn’t an option. So then there was this middle ground of, potentially he could be sold in January, but how the season starts, I don’t think anyone was anticipating it to go so poorly.

And the big thing for him was he had a very good relationship with Arne Slot, and suddenly Slot was behaving very differently to him in terms of communication. They had a very easy relationship where there’d be dialogue about tactics and options, but they’d also talk about their personal lives, and all of that just went.

The staff paint a picture of a manager who suddenly had to embed this uber-expensive attacking unit with the star player that he’d platformed, and the reason the league title was delivered was that he was platformed and thrived.

Trying to build this new team with Salah still there, the issues at right back, and what hurt Salah was in all the issues at the start of the season for Liverpool, instead of the club and the manager trying to highlight: ‘Well, here are all the things that we’re going to do. We’re transitioning, so we need players to settle. We need to find the combinations. We’ve lost Trent Alexander-Arnold, which means the way we play is fundamentally different. We now have to play Mo a lot further back, further away from goal than we want to. He’s going to be isolated. This is not a circumstance that is by his design.’

But none of the reasons why Liverpool were playing badly was ever detailed. So the narrative that Salah was the problem was allowed to [fester]. And that’s what hurt him, that the club didn’t really stand up for him. They were happy with him being painted as the problem

And the club knew his temperament and personality. They knew at some point he’d speak out. Yet it’s like they wanted him to speak out and have that outburst because it was all very preventable when you speak to a lot of the other staff and to the players: they think that situation would have never happened if it was handled better, and there is a sense amongst many people that it was handled the way it needed to be to force an end to the relationship.

Arne Slot with Mohamed Salah. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Do you have any idea where he might end up next?

It’s staggering how desperate they are to get him in the US. That would appeal lifestyle-wise; it would feel good for him and his family to adjust to a new country. But also, his daughters have been schooled in English, and so that might feel like less of a jarring situation for them.

There’s obviously been interest from the Saudi Pro League for years, and the terms they will offer him are not comparable anywhere.

However, he’s not somebody that’s going to make a move for money. And there’s still lots of interest in him in Italy, where the level of affection that he had in the country while he was at Roma, how he’s perceived in that country and what he’s achieved in football – they’ve always felt like it would be a romantic story to have him back there.

Salah’s first choice would always be to compete at the highest level, and play Champions League football and contribute. ‘Contribute’ doesn’t always mean he has to start every game, but there needs to be a proper necessity for him at the club.

And so, if there is that sweet spot of getting a club with Champions League that wants to fight for the title, and it makes sense, then I think that is where you go.

But the US seems quite confident because the last time I checked, there were four proposals put to him from MLS clubs, and when you look at the kind of life that Leo Messi has, and Antoine Griezmann is already having. And then what David Beckham and the legacy Beckham brought – from a brand perspective, it might make sense.

But as Rami Abbas was saying, he doesn’t even know where Salah is playing yet.

Match officials pose with Lionel Messi of Argentina and Mohamed Salah of Egypt during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 match. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Finally, what is Salah’s legacy?

When writing the book, I was actually trying to think and realised on a social level, the difference he’s made, and it led me to say, he is the most important footballer – not the most popular, not the greatest of all time, the most important, because in the age we’re living in, where Islamophobia is so huge globally, he has been so openly, unapologetically Muslim.

And so many people [now] realise that their perceptions are so flawed, their thinking is so incorrect, and a lot of the stuff used by politicians is just fiction. No one has, on the scale that Salah has, achieved that.

Every day, [Muslims] go through life with people hating on them in some way, and here they have this man who they resonate with so much. Who you know has the name of the Prophet. His surname means ‘prayer’. He does his prostrations on the pitch. He gives thanks to Allah freely. He is an absolute icon, an achiever who has rewritten so many records. And they think: ‘Well, look how proud he is to be Muslim. I can be proud too. I can also achieve.’

And it’s not just that. When you look at all the things he has stood up for, which is very difficult in a country like Egypt to have an opinion, to push for women’s rights, to make sure girls have access to education. When he spoke out about Uefa’s tweet on the Palestinian footballer that was murdered. All these things, it’s easy to remain quiet. But he has never taken that option. He’s always stood up when he’s needed to for what’s right.

When you look at smaller things – how his teammates are treated in the national team and making Egypt up their logistical standards for everyone in the team. Or donating to Palestine, and he’s not the type to shout and scream about everything he does. But the amount of infrastructure he’s built in Egypt and in Nagrig specifically, his village, and then the amount he’s donated to wider projects across Africa and the Middle East for the betterment of lives is just absolutely astounding.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

‘Only Mo Salah: An Intimate Portrait of the Egyptian King’ by Melissa Reddy is published by Seven Dials. More info here.