JOHANNESBURG - Liverpool’s Egyptian striker Mohamed Salah was not close to joining Real Madrid in 2018, the player’s agent said over the weekend.
Salah’s agent - Rammy Abbas Issa rubbished reports in which former Egypt international Hany Ramza alleged there had been an approach made by the Spanish giants.
Ramzy said Madrid had approached then-Egypt coach Hector Cuper during a March 2018 training camp in Switzerland.
“Mohamed never discussed any career plans with any ex-coach," said Issa.
Salah was on the scoresheet for Liverpool against Bournemouth on March 7 before the English Premier League (EPL) season was suspended due to the spread of Covid-19, taking his EPL tally to 70.
The strike also moved Salah to second on the all-time list for goals scored for a single club, behind only Alan Shearer who scored 79 goals in his first 100 matches for Blackburn Rovers.
In the process, Salah has passed Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sergio Aguero and Fernando Torres on the list for most goals scored for a single club in their first 100 games.
The ‘Egyptian King’ has also snuck into third place on the top-scorers list this season with his total of 16. Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy leads the way on 19 goals.
If Salah manages to top the goalscoring charts, it will be the third season in a row he has achieved this feat. In his first season for Liverpool in 2017/2018 he notched up an incredible 32 goals, and scored 22 in 2018/2019.
Should he go on to win it for a third season in a row, Salah would become the third player in EPL history to do so after Shearer (1994-1997) and Thierry Henry (2003-2006).
Another record in sight for Salah, is the quickest to 100 goals for Liverpool across all competitions. Currently, Salah has 91 goals from 143 games, some way ahead of Fowler who brought up his century of goals from 165 matches.