'I played with Mo Salah – he told me who his dream club was'

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Mohamed Salah has fulfilled his lifelong "dream" to become a Liverpool legend.

Salah, 33, announced on Tuesday that he will leave the Reds at the end of the season . He joined the club in a £37million deal from Roma in 2017 and has since established himself as one of their greatest-ever players, scoring 255 goals in 435 appearances and winning seven major trophies.

But upon signing for Liverpool nine years ago, Salah admitted it was a "dream" for him to move to the Reds. Before his debut against Watford in the Premier League, the Egypt international said: "It is a great club.

"It was a dream for me when I was young to play here one day. When I had the chance to come, I was thinking about whether I should stay in Rome or move here but because when I was young, it was a dream to me, I took the decision to come back.

"I would play as Liverpool on the PlayStation so I am happy to be here now. I was playing with a team like Steven Gerrard , Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher . I liked the team and the way they were playing. I was seven or eight years old so I was playing just to enjoy myself.

"I'm always looking for where I can improve myself so here, because of the city, because of the fans, you can feel the emotions and everyone wants to win something. Everyone is happy for me and I can feel that, even in the friendly games.

"I am very happy to be here and I would like to help the team so I am very excited to start in the Premier League games and I think we can win something this year together."

And then in 2023, ex-Manchester City right-back Micah Richards revealed Salah told him that he wanted to be a Liverpool legend, when the duo were team-mates at Fiorentina.

Salah and Richards spent the 2014/15 season together in Florence and helped La Viola to an impressive fourth-place finish and a spot in the Europa League .

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Speaking three years ago, Richards wrote in his Daily Mail column : "It was always Mo Salah ’s dream to be a Liverpool legend. I played with him at Fiorentina and when we used to go out for coffee, he talked about his ambition to move to Anfield eventually.

"I knew when Liverpool signed him in 2017 they had a superstar in the making, but even I’ve been stunned by the number of goals he has scored. He needs four more to leapfrog Steven Gerrard (186) and get into the club’s all-time top five. Don’t bet against him doing it by the end of the season."

It's safe to say Salah has fulfilled his ambition to become a Liverpool legend.

He is the third top goalscorer in the club's history behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt, and has won every trophy available to him in England.

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Salah has a maximum of 15 matches left in a Liverpool shirt. Seven of them come in the Premier League , while he could have three more in the FA Cup and a further five in the Champions League depending on the club's progress in both of those competitions.

There are 10 games, however, that are guaranteed with Salah should he return to action after the international break.