Online Reporter
MOHAMED SALAH’S road to superstardom was anything but easy… literally.
At just 14 years old, he would complete a gruelling NINE HOUR round trip using 10 different buses just so he could play football.
And that journey came after two hours of school – which started at 7am.
The Liverpool legend, who will captain Egypt at the World Cup this summer, would complete that journey five days a week for up to four years.
But ultimately, it helped him become one of the best players in the world.
Recalling the first stages of his career during one of his first interviews with Liverpool in 2017, Salah explained: “I had originally been playing for a club that was half an hour away from my village in Basyoun.
“Then I signed for a club in Tanta, which was one-and-a-half hours away.
“From there, I went to Arab Contractors in Cairo, so it was a four to four-and-a-half-hour journey five days a week to get to training.
“I was having to leave school early to travel to training. I would go in from 7am until 9am and then I had an official paper to give to my club to say, ‘Mo can leave school early so he can reach the club at 2pm to train.’
“So I was only at school for two hours a day during that time. Now, everything would be difficult if I was not a footballer, I think!
“For five days a week, every week for three or four years, I would make this journey. I was leaving at 9am in the morning, then I would arrive at the training ground at 2pm or 2.30pm.
“Training was always at 3.30pm or 4pm. I would finish training at say 6pm, then I’d go home and arrive at 10pm or 10.30pm. Then it was eat, sleep and then the day after the same thing.
“And it wasn’t just taking one bus – I’d have to transfer buses three, four or even sometimes five times just to arrive at training and then back home again.”
Salah made his professional debut for Al-Mokawloon in 2010 and spent two years at the club before completing a switch to Swiss side Basel.
However, the winger didn’t get off to a good start during his trial period.
Former Basel manager Heiko Vogel once revealed that he failed to impress on his first day – so much so that members of staff wondered if he had a twin brother.
He said: “I told him, ‘Listen, just train as you like, we’ve already made our decision anyway.’
“Then he trained on the first day, everyone watched the session and we wondered if he might have a twin brother.
“The second day was a bit better, but not good. And then came the third day. It was then that he destroyed everything, he was really unstoppable.
“It was absolutely extraordinary. He was so agile, so explosive. If he had the ball on his left foot, it was a goal.
“After that performance everyone knew why we wanted to sign him.”
Following a two-year stint in Switzerland, where he recorded 34 goal contributions in 79 games, the Egypt international completed a move to Chelsea. However, the winger struggled to find form at Stamford Bridge, limiting him to just 19 appearances.
Loan spells at Fiorentina and Roma followed, before he completed a permanent transfer to Rome in 2017.
There, his career really took flight.
Salah netted 34 goals and provided 21 assists for the Serie A side and his impressive form earned him a move to Liverpool in a deal worth up to £43million.
Since that move, the 33-year-old has made 442 appearances, scored 257 goals and provided 123 assists.
Salah became a club legend as a result.
However, his time at Anfield came to an end last month.
The winger announced earlier this year that his nine-year spell in Merseyside would come to an end this summer.
And now, with the Premier League season complete, he is fully focussed on the World Cup with Egypt – Sun.
