Steven Gerrard has admitted that he had concerns over whether Mohamed Salah would thrive in the Premier League when he was signed by Liverpool in the summer.
Salah has made a huge impression at Anfield since his £37million transfer from Chelsea.
The Egyptian wide forward took his goal haul for the season to 12 goals from 17 matches with a brilliantly taken double in Liverpool’s 4-1 win against West Ham on Saturday evening.
Liverpool legend Gerrard has insisted that Salah has silenced the doubters, who included himself when the former Chelsea flop joined from Roma.
“I watched him a lot at Chelsea, and it didn’t really take off for him when he was a Chelsea player,” Gerrard said on BT Sport 1’s live coverage of Liverpool’s win against the Hammers in the immediate aftermath of the match,
“Of course he hit real top form over at Roma, but you’re thinking, ‘is he a player suited to the Premier League?’” And when he first came I, along with a lot of Liverpool fans, wasn’t totally sure how it was going to work.
“But he’s come in and he’s been absolutely top-drawer this season. He’s been Liverpool’s best player by a mile.”
OPINION
Liverpool spectacularly failed in their bid to recruit a top-class centre-back during the summer, but they showed once again they have an eye for potentially brilliant forwards who can thrive under Jurgen Klopp. 2016 arrival Sadio Mane has been a sensational signing, and Salah has showed he can end up being an equally excellent acquisition. No Liverpool player has scored more that 14 goals in a season since Luis Suarez quit in 2014. Salah could trump that figure before we put up our Christmas trees.