Mohamed Salah's first training session in Europe was so bad, coaches wondered whether the current Liverpool star had a twin brother.
The Egyptian moved from El Mokawloon in his homeland to Basel, Switzerland in 2012 with then manager Heiko Vogel making a decision on the fleet-footed attacker before even watching him train at close quarters.
However, Salah's first session with the Swiss giants did not go as planned, according to Vogel, who admitted he and sporting director Georg Heitz were left concerned by the Reds forward's start to life with the club.
In an interview with Goal and SPOX , Vogel explained how "gentle killer" Salah has remained grounded after becoming one of the biggest football stars on the planet during his time at Anfield.
It was not immediately obvious to Basel chiefs that Salah had the ability to become a Champions League winner upon his arrival in Switzerland seven years ago, though.
Vogel said: "If you knew him, he is not a world star, he has such a gentle character.
"It was always clear to me that he is an outstanding player, but whether he had the mentality? I didn't know that exactly. Momo is a gentle killer.”
Of the inauspicious start at Basel, Vogel added: "Gegge (Heitz) and I told him: 'Listen, just train as you like - we've already made our decision anyway'.
"Then he trained on the first day; everyone watched the session and we wondered if he might have a twin brother!
"The second day was a bit better, but not good. Gegge and I had already been talking him up for the tiniest things, saying stuff like: 'did you see that pass?'."
By the third day, however, Salah left Vogel and Heitz in no doubt about the quality of player they had signed from Egypt.
"And then came the third day," Vogel continued. "It was then that he destroyed everything, he was really unstoppable.
"[The first two days] he wasn't nervous. He was confident, but immersed in a new world. He had to acclimate himself in the truest sense of the word. He came to us from hot north Africa.
"It's always difficult when you get into an environment where you do not really understand the language.
“[But] I have rarely seen such a dominant appearance in two-on-five [on that third day]. It was absolutely extraordinary.
"He was so agile, so explosive. If he had the ball on his left foot, it was a goal. But Momo always had an eye for his team-mates as well.
"After that performance everyone knew why we wanted to sign him."
Since moving to Liverpool from Roma for £36.9million, Salah has scored 74 times in 109 games, helping himself to back-to-back Premier League Golden Boots in the process.
