Episode 4: Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah is the greatest player to emerge from a football-mad part of the world that has rarely produced elite talent on the level of the clinical, curly-haired winger: the Arab world.

Born in a humble town in Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, Salah is an icon in Africa and the Middle East and ranks among the greatest Muslim athletes of the modern era. The 31 year-old’s breakthrough in European football may never have happened were it not for the tragic breakdown of law and order in Egypt in the aftermath of the Arab Spring in 2011. A young Salah had his dream of playing for one of Egypt's big clubs taken away from him following the Port Said stadium disaster, one of the deadliest episodes of football violence in the 21st century.

He burst onto the scene in European football with Swiss side Basel, putting in man of the match performances against Chelsea in successive cup competitions, scoring three times against the Blues who went on to sign him at the age of 22. Liverpool missed out on his signature because they didn’t think he was worth his £11 million transfer fee.

Salah suffered his worst season as a professional under totemic Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, who loaned him off after a year, in one of the worst transfer decisions ever made by the club. After a stint in Serie A, Salah returned to England with a vengeance with Liverpool in 2017 and has become an Anfield legend, winning the Premier League and Champions League under Jurgen Klopp.

Simon and Mehreen tell the story of a footballer whose impact goes far beyond Liverpool FC or football. He’s probably the only sportsman who has been empirically proven to have helped reduce racism against Muslims in the UK, with his quiet piety, prostrating  goal celebrations and boundless dedication to his craft.

Salah is also a source of rare hope for a generation of young Egyptians whose freedoms and aspirations were brutally crushed by Egypt’s military dictator after the extinguishing of the Arab Spring. Liverpool’s Egyptian King is a beacon for millions who will never get the chance to fulfil their dreams in the autocratic, repressive state.

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