The man who Mohamed Salah looked up to as a role model has claimed the Liverpool star used to cry because he didn’t score enough goals.
Former Ghana striker Eric Bekoe claimed Salah “wanted to be like” him when they were both playing in Egypt.
Since then, of course, Salah has gone on to become one of the stars of world football, one of the best signings of Jurgen Klopp’s reign and a crucial player for the world and European club champions.
Salah won the Premier League’s Golden Boot in his first season at Liverpool, then shared the prize the following season with his Reds team-mate Sadio Mane and Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
But Bekoe, who played for Egyptian side Petrojet from 2009-2012, remembers when a young Salah struggled to get himself on the scoresheet.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I was a big player in Egypt. Mohamed Salah and other young Egyptian players wanted to be like,” said Bekoe to Ghana-based radio station Nhyira FM, as quoted by PulseGhana.
“Mohamed Salah of Liverpool picked me as a role model. During my days at FC Petrojet, Salah was a young boy playing for the youth side of Al Mokawloon.
“Salah was a left-winger who wanted to score more goals because he is clinical upfront. He sometimes cried because his effort on wings doesn’t result in goals.”
Bekoe said the Egypt star benefited from being pushed into a more advanced role – and the rest is history, with Salah having transferred to Basel before his spells at Chelsea, Fiorentina and Roma finally earned him a move to Liverpool.
“One of their coaches pushed him forward which helped his progression before leaving Egypt for FC Basel,” said Bekoe.
Salah has scored 16 Premier League goals this season to help Liverpool to the brink of the club’s first top-flight title in 30 years, while he played a crucial role in the Reds’ Champions League triumph last term.
Sign up to the Mirror Football email here for the latest news and transfer gossip.
