Mohamed Salah has written himself in Liverpool folklore forever after what he's achieved over the past few years.
The Egyptian is arguably at the peak of his career and is widely regarded as one of the best in the world in his position.
It wasn’t always that straightforward for Salah, however, after being forced to work hard on his game to reach his full potential.
He initially arrived in England for Chelsea in 2014, but rarely featured for the London club before moving to Fiorentina on loan.
It was there where the Salah we all see today really started to blossom, and one of his former team-mates has opened up on what it was like earlier in his career.
Salah’s ex-Fiorentina colleague Alessandro Diamanti has admitted that the Serie A club took some convincing after a less than impressive introduction.
“The first time he came to Fiorentina, nobody knows Salah. He came from Chelsea, but he didn’t play much,” Diamanti told the Italian Football Podcast.
“In the first training session with Fiorentina, he didn’t do very good.
“Everyone thought, ‘how could Chelsea get this player? Maybe this is why he came to Fiorentina!’
“His first training session he was just normal, we expected something more from him.”
It didn’t take long for that perspective to change, as Diamanti went on to say the first time he saw Salah in a competitive match changed everything.
Diamanti added: “Then in his first game at home against Atalanta, a game in which I scored, he played the last 30 minutes and we started to say: ‘Hmmm he’s quick this guy, he has pace.'.
“And after two weeks, well, he was unbelievable, unbelievable!
"He was fast, he scored, dribbled, he had skills. Unbelievable.
“He wasn’t as good as he was now. He’s improved a lot in the years since. Especially his finishing.”
