If the history of Mohamed Salah's career has taught one thing, it's that the Liverpool star is often at his best when there is something to prove.
His arrival at Anfield itself, back in the summer of 2017, is proof enough of that. After failing to make the grade during a limited spell at Chelsea, Salah returned to the Premier League as a Reds player ready to give English football a better insight into his true capabilities.
"Even if I see myself playing very well in one thing, I try to improve to do it better and better," he said when asked if he had a point to make in England after signing for Liverpool. "I always think about the small details because I need to improve more and more."
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With the general perception of him from that failed spell in west London still fuelling him to an extent, Salah's first campaign was an otherworldly one at Anfield. His 44 goals helped Jurgen Klopp's men re-establish themselves as a European force before they fell at the last hurdle in the Champions League final to Real Madrid in 2018.
That haul remains the biggest of Liverpool's 21st century and again, with the burning sense of injustice the year previous, Salah's goals would once more propel Klopp's side to the European Cup showpiece before they went on to lift the trophy for a sixth time in Madrid in 2019.
The following year, Salah was Liverpool's top marksman for a third straight season as he helped eradicate the Premier League disappointment of a 97-point campaign that only brought a silver medal by ending a 30-year wait for that mythical 19th championship.
The five years of Salah's time on Merseyside, then, is littered with examples of him responding superbly to setbacks and frustrations. And it's why he could yet come flying out of the traps when the action resumes in August.
So far this summer, Salah's social media accounts have painted the picture of man at ease, enjoying some much-needed and well-earned holiday time with his family, but it was a message conveyed when the pain of the Champions League final defeat last month was still at its most raw that has already set the tone for what could be about to come at Anfield.
"I cannot express in words how much we wanted to bring that (Champions League) trophy back to Liverpool but in the end we couldn’t," he posted in one of two messaged on June 2. "I cannot thank the fans enough for your support. It has been a very long season but a part of me wishes the next one starts again tomorrow."
Earlier that day, he had written: "Being recognised by the fans and by the sports journalists in the same season is something special that I will never forget. I would however give all those personal awards up for a chance at replaying that final, but that is not how football works."
So while Salah may not be giving too much thought to the coming months right now, it won't be long before the man so affectionately known as 'the Egyptian King' has his game face on again.
Pre-season begins at the AXA Centre on July 4 and with Salah ready to feel the benefits of a full pre-season schedule, the wide forward might just extend himself into the kind of overdrive Liverpool fans were able to enjoy in the first half of last season's marathon campaign.
The summer of 2021 was the first since Salah joined that was uninterrupted by international football or the complexities of travel issues during the pandemic. As a result, a fully recharged Salah hit the ground at pace and by the Autumn, the opinion that the Egypt star was the world's best player was a prevalent one.
“At the end of the day it’s people’s opinions, but in my mind, I’m the best player in the world, that’s what I say to myself,” Salah told MBC Masr TV in December in a tone that spoke more to his unshakable belief and confidence in himself as opposed to any notion of misplaced arrogance.
After all, just eight of his 31 goals last season came after he departed for the Africa Cup of Nations in early January. And while they are numbers that back up the assertion that fatigue plagued the forward in the second half of the campaign, they are figures that also detail just how irrepressible he was before that mid-season pause.
So another full summer of fine tuning will be conducive to Salah once more leading the way as Liverpool go in pursuit of more trophies for the glittering collection under Klopp next term.
The November World Cup is not an ideal one from club's perspectives, but until then, Liverpool will be able to get the advantage of a Mo Salah in full flow. At a time when the margins for victory are so fine, it could yet make all the difference further down the line.
And while the former Roma star will have those narrow Premier League and Champions League misses of last term to use as motivation, there's also the personal circumstances of his contract impasse to contend with.
Perhaps there is a school of thought where even that is turned into more fuel for the fire as far as the Liverpool superstar is concerned? After all, as the record shows, Salah is at his best when there is a point to prove.
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