Mohamed Salah had an unequivocal message for Liverpool supporters after committing his future to the club on Friday, stating: “I would like to say to them, I am very, very happy to be here.”
The Egyptian ensured his eight-year association with the Reds would continue beyond the end of the current season after he put pen to paper on a new contract.
Since arriving at Anfield back in 2017, Salah has firmly cemented himself as a genuine club legend, with a remarkable haul of seven major honours and 243 goals in 394 appearances.
And shortly after applying his signature to the new terms, the No.11 sat down with Liverpoolfc.com at the AXA Training Centre to outline why he is delighted to be continuing his Liverpool story into the future.
here is the full transcript below.
Mohamed, congratulations – how does it feel to have agreed this new deal with the club?
Thank you. It’s great to be here another two years. So I’m happy to sign a new contract.
As you say, it extends your time with the club. These last eight years have been something really special and there’s now more to come. How excited does that make you?
Of course I’m very excited. We have a great team now. Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
Can you explain what Liverpool means to you, what you feel about Liverpool as a club?
It’s great, I had my best years here. I played eight years, hopefully it’s going to be 10. Enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I had the best years in my career.
It’s obviously not just you that’s staying here, it’s your family too. How do they feel about this news?
They feel at home. They were very happy, Magi and the kids, they were very happy that we’re staying another two years. It feels like home so everyone was happy.
How did they react when you told them?
I think Makka was the happiest one in the family, she wanted us to stay. Of course we all wanted to stay but Makka because her friends are here and the school. It was a very good vibe after the moment that I signed.
When you signed your last contract in 2022 you were ninth on the club’s all-time leading goalscorer list. You’re now third as we sit here today. How proud are you of that achievement?
It’s great but I’m more proud when we win team trophies because this is the most important thing. When you win something with the team and are scoring goals and you are involved, that’s what people remember. Just individual awards without winning anything doesn’t feel great.
I know you don’t want to talk about individual accolades and achievements but you are the top goalscorer in the Premier League. You’re also top for assists. You’re not just someone who scores, are you?
I’m just a good winger and I try to do my job. As long as we’re winning games and are close to winning trophies, that’s the most important thing.
You need four more goals to go fourth in the Premier League all-time leading goalscorer list. That’s not bad for a winger…
Of course. To be fair, it’s great. But, again, when you are scoring goals and you feel like you are involved in most of the games and the team is close to winning big trophies, that’s an unbelievable feeling.
It was 2017 when you first came here and walked into Melwood. Eight years later, you’re a senior player in the squad and you’re part of the leadership group. How much do you enjoy that responsibility and being an example for the younger players?
I’m enjoying it a lot, to be fair. I’ve been here since I was like 24, 25 so I’ve grown up here as a person and as a player. I’m also very happy when the younger players come to me and ask me questions. I have a great relationship with everyone here. Sometimes I look at the players and just laugh because I know I’ve been in their situation before; sometimes you just can’t handle the pressure and you just look at the situation from different ways. But when you grow up you see it differently. I’m very happy with my roles during the years.
Is it something you’re conscious of when you come to work in the morning, that you are a role model for younger players?
To be fair, I don’t think about it a lot. I know how professional I am, I always try to be here first and do my job properly; try to be professional here and also at home. But I’m not thinking that much about [being a] role model or not. I just try to enjoy myself and I think the younger players here are very smart, they try to copy sometimes what I’m doing and try to be always in the gym early as well. It’s working well so far.
You’ve signed this contract with seven games to go in the season, we are top of the Premier League table. How much would it mean to you to go on and win that?
I think I said in the beginning of the season, I just want to win the Premier League more than anything else. I want it so bad, to be fair. The fans deserve it – last time we won it we didn’t celebrate it that much. Hopefully we do it this time. There’s still seven games to go, it’s not going to be easy at all because Arsenal are also catching up. We’ll give it our all and hopefully in the end we can win it.
Why is the Premier League the one you want the most?
Probably because last time we didn’t celebrate it the way we wanted. I think we owe that to the fans. They deserve it, they deserve to enjoy it after that long time, with celebrating at Anfield and in the street and just enjoying ourselves winning the Premier League.