Mo Salah dismisses his critics & sets sights on scoring “more than anybody in Europe”

Mohamed Salah has set the consistent target of scoring “more than anybody in Europe” with Liverpool as he brushed aside external views on his game.

The 28-year-old has been nothing short of a revelation since landing at Anfield in the summer of 2017 having scored an astonishing 104 goals in 165 appearances for the Reds.

It is a tally which sees him positioned 16th in the club’s top all-time goalscorers chart, just 26 goals behind 10th-placed Sam Raybould – a star in the early 1900s.

Salah has continually left records in his wake on his way to playing a key role in the recent success enjoyed by Jurgen Klopp‘s side, but he is not without his critics.

Despite winning the Premier League Golden Boot in his first two seasons and finishing fifth in 2019/20, in addition to copious individual awards, Salah often finds himself under the microscope.

But the Egyptian has admitted he gives little thought to what others make of him and his performances as he opened up on his unwavering mentality to not only top the goalscoring charts domestically but also in Europe.

“I think it’s true for everybody that when you win it takes something from your hunger,” Salah told NBC‘s Men in Blazers.

Mane and Salah (Image: Michael Regan/PA Wire/PA Images)

It comes down to internal competition from the likes of Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino and those elsewhere in the English top-flight and ensuring there is always something to “stay hungry” for.

“I have to stay hungry. You have to find something inside you to push you forward,” he continued.

“The competition from us for sure is helping, but I don’t want to take it from me and Sadio and Bobby because the other strikers in the Premier League also scored more goals.

“I want to score more than anybody in the league. I want to score more than anybody in Europe. It’s my mentality. Maybe some people like it, maybe some do not but I don’t really care about that but in the mean time my number of assists is really high.”

In 13 appearances to date in 2020/21, Salah has notched 10 goals and one assist in all competitions to lead Liverpool in the charts having scored two more than new signing Diogo Jota.

BERGAMO, ITALY - Tuesday, November 3, 2020: Liverpool's Diogo Jota celebrates after scoring the first goal with team-mate Mohamed Salah (L) during the UEFA Champions League Group D match between Atalanta BC and Liverpool FC at the Stadio di Bergamo. (Pic by Simone Arveda/Propaganda)

In the race for the European Golden Boot, however, he sits behind six other players with leader Robert Lewandowski just three league goals ahead (11).

Having returned from an enforced absence against Leicester due to a positive COVID-19 test, Salah is expected to be back in the fold for the Champions League meeting with Atalanta on Wednesday before setting his eyes on Brighton.

And after all he’s accomplished at Liverpool to date, you wouldn’t put it past the Egyptian King to make good on his desire to be Europe’s leading goalscorer.

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