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It’s Official, Salah Is the PFA Player’s Player of the Year!
written by
Sherif Khairy

What else can we say about our Momo? Salah has been moving from one accomplishment to another this year, and as the season draws to an end, we’re glad to see the culmination of all his efforts.

Don’t be mistaken, this award is not like the minor ones he won through the online votes of millions of Egyptians, the PFA Player’s Player of the Year is the most prestigious award in the Premier League. The PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) Award is voted by professional footballers, which means that Salah is not only great in our eyes, but he is that good in the eyes of his peers and opponents too.

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FIFA Football Game Fans Would Love to Have this Overpowered Player Card

Six years ago, no one would’ve thought much of a player from El-Mokawloon trying to find his place within the Egyptian league. Not even three years ago, when he was at Chelsea, did we ever think he’d garner all that recognition. At that time, the Egyptians would chant for Salah to be substituted in, instead of staying on the bench. Yes, the Mo Salah that’s taking the world by storm today was a bench warmer three years ago in the same league.

At the beginning of the season, a lot of football experts and Liverpool legends voiced their concern over the exaggerated price tag on a player who has already flopped in the Premier League two seasons ago. Even Klopp wasn’t that excited. Reports circulated in recent months over how Salah was Klopp’s 4th choice for a summer signing, so in other circumstances, he wouldn’t even be at Liverpool.

We may not have seen this coming a few years ago, and not even at the beginning of this season, but one man who had his eyes on the prize the whole time was the man himself. Last night, on the stage with the award, Mo Salah was asked if he dreamt his return to the Premier League would go the way it did, and he simply said, “Yes.” He continued to say that he wanted to succeed in the Premier League ever since he left it from Chelsea where he didn’t get much of a chance. “It was very clear in my mind, I will return back to the Premier League and I will show everyone my football.” You can watch the whole ceremony on the PFA Facebook Page, and watch the post-ceremony interview here.

But let’s be honest here, as the season went on, our hopes for what Mo Salah could achieve kept rising. He made us believe that he could do this, he made us believe that he will score every game, he made us believe he will help his team win, and he made us believe that he could win all the possible awards.

After 35 match days in the Premier League, Mo Salah has created 9 goals and scored a whopping 31 goals, making him the top contender, by far, for the Premier League Top Scorer of the Season. He also now matched the record for the highest number of league goals scored in a 38-game season in Premier League history. With three games left to go, Salah has the chance to make his record even more impressive. He also set his eye on the record for a 42-game season (34 goals), which is not far from reach at all.

These incredible performances helped him win the BBC African Footballer of the Year, the CAF African Footballer of the Year, as well as the Arab Player of the Year. He also became one of nine players to win the Premier League Player of the Month Award in two consecutive months, and the only player to win it three times in one season, can he get the fourth? We wouldn’t bet against it.

Our hopes for Mo Salah’s success are now expectations. The man knows what he’s doing, and he knows how to keep his class. The Egyptian King now reigns over the United Kingdom, and as commentators say, “Salah? You know the rest.”

Speaking of Egyptian footballers in the Premier League, let’s not forget to applaud Ramadan Sobhi, Ahmed Hegazi, Ahmed Elmohamady, Ali Gabr, and wish Mohamed Elneny a swift recovery! 

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