It takes an Egyptian to truly understand what it means to make it out of Nagrig to become one of the best players in the history of the Premier League.
No words can truly describe how impossible this is. Yet, Mohamed Salah made it.
Egypt’s reaction to the news that Salah is leaving Liverpool has been a mixture of commemoration and appreciation of his achievements as a footballer.
Salah’s farewell video took many by surprise, but it sparked the memories of where it all began.
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) March 24, 2026
The picture of a young Salah wearing summer clothes in rainy Europe was recirculated, the emotions his goals created were retold, and stories of his voyage from Basel to Liverpool were recounted.
Only a tiny minority of Egyptians knew who Salah was before December 25, 2010, when the 18-year-old’s impressive performance and goal in Al Mokawloon’s 1-1 draw against the Egyptian champions Al Ahly put him in the spotlight.
At the time, none of the 80million or more inhabitants of the country would have envisaged this ending. The unanimous respect from Egyptians towards Salah’s career isn’t only because of his trophies, goals and personal accolades, but also because they acknowledge how unthinkable it is to reach these heights from the forward’s starting point.
Salah doesn’t come from a privileged background. As a 14-year-old, he took four or five microbuses to make the 90-mile trip from his home to Al Mokawloon’s training ground a minimum of three times a week.
This isn’t your regular bus trip, where you know the arrival time and sit down comfortably at the station — just search “Microbus Egypt” to get an idea. That’s why putting a specific time on the eight-hour round trip is just an average, which can go from the logical to the irrational in the snap of a finger.
This was 2006, when young footballers only dreamt of being known and playing for the Egypt national team, not dominating European football for 10 years.
The path trodden by Salah to make the move from Al Mokawloon to Basel isn’t a common one, because there was simply no direction of travel for Egyptian footballers who wanted to make it as professionals abroad. This is a long way from the scouting networks and the common route through academies in Europe’s top five leagues.
There was no precedent or a trail for Salah to follow to become one of the best players in the world. He created his own path.
It is probably the end of an era for Salah in the Premier League. He has ignited footballing emotions in the people of his nation and created long-lasting memories.
For Egyptians who have been watching the Premier League since the early 2000s, what Salah has achieved is beyond the realms of imagination.
Before Salah, goals from Mido and Amr Zaki in the Premier League made the headlines because it was rare to see an Egyptian playing in England’s top flight. Salah changed the landscape, normalising the impossible to the extent that Egyptian goals in the Premier League are now a mere footnote.
The Premier League was extremely popular in Egypt before Salah’s arrival, but he has been the main catalyst in its rising popularity in the past 10 years.
Liverpool’s matches have been aired in cafes — even if they coincided with any big games in the top five European leagues — the names of Premier League clubs have become common knowledge to the average person, and Salah shirts have been the go-to football kit among the younger generation.
The thing that encapsulates it all is a small food joint in Nasr City, Cairo, which serves foul (pronounced “fool”) — a traditional Egyptian stew of cooked fava beans — and falafel, naming the place ‘Liverfool’ in Arabic to take in the club’s name and the food in the menu, with a picture of Salah at the top of the storefront.
Liverfool, a restaurant in Egypt paying tribute to Mohamed Salah (Ahmed Walid)
In Salah’s farewell video, he speaks in front of a trophy-laden cabinet that holds the silverware he has won with Liverpool and his personal awards. The cabinet is full to the extent that there are a couple of Premier League and Champions League man-of-the-match awards lying on the ground.
The idea that a player of Salah’s background reaching this level in football resonates with Egyptians, who are trying to walk a similar path in different careers, overcoming varying hardships, and hoping to achieve a fraction of the forward’s glory.
Salah is literally one of their own.
This isn’t a big-city boy who played for one of the two giants, Al Ahly and El Zamalek, before taking his career abroad and becoming one of the best players in the Premier League. This is a kid from a village in Gharbia governorate, who became one of the best players in the world — the average Egyptian didn’t even know where Nagrig is on the map before Salah.
It is why — even if there are disagreements with some of his off-field stances by some — Salah will always be the ultimate football success story for the average Egyptian.
His career is an inspiration to any boy in the country, regardless of background or location. Salah is living proof that an Egyptian can become the best player in the Premier League.
“Honestly, when I was young, all that I dreamt of was to be a well-known player. That was all my ambition,” Salah told beIN Sports in an interview in 2023. “But after that, when I realised that I am well known, my ambitions grew.”
Salah’s other Premier League legacy is that he broke the barriers of imagination for young footballers in Egypt. Just reaching the Premier League was a dream for any kid in the youth ranks of Egyptian teams. Salah moved the goalposts — the target now is to thrive in England’s top flight.
What Salah has achieved in his footballing career will be something Egyptians are eternally proud of.
A Champions League medal, two Premier League titles, four Golden Boot trophies, and three PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards don’t portray the complete story, though.
Salah made the impossible a reality.