Mohamed Salah is currently on international duty with Egypt looking to finally win a long elusive African Cup of Nations.
Salah has fallen at the last hurdle twice, finishing as runners up with his national team at the tournament in 2017 and 2021. At 31-years-old, he is coming closer to this being one of his last opportunities to lift the coveted trophy.
And the Liverpool star will be determined to do so. He’s entering the tournament in great form and arguably has a stronger supporting cast around him compared to two years ago.
In the lead-up to the tournament, he’s also been tasked with taking on a new role by Egypt’s manager, Rui Vitoria.
Mohamed Salah’s new role
In Egypt’s friendly against Tanzania ahead of the tournament, Vitoria used Salah in a central midfield role for a section of the game.
It was a surprising move from the Egypt coach, with Salah having never played there before, but the Liverpool man captured the eye.
He sent a whopping seven through passes into his teammates, which was the most in the game. He also made four passes into the opposition’s penalty area, three shot assists and provided an assist. To summarise, Salah produced a brilliant playmaking performance, pulling the strings and creating an abundance of chances from midfield.
His coach was also impressed by what he saw.
“Salah playing a central midfield role? It was clear today that he can play that part and he doesn’t necessarily have to play on the wing at all times,” Vitoria said as per King Fut after the game.
A hint towards the future
There is no denying Salah is not getting any younger. He will be 32-years-old, and it’s already evident he doesn’t quite posses the same explosive speed as he did in his prime.
Yet he’s still a phenomenal player who is breaking records, left, right and centre at Liverpool. Recently, as well as his goal-scoring, Salah has really shown he can be an excellent creative outlet as well.
He’s got the most assists (8) in the Premier League at the moment, and he’s also created the most big chances (17).
Perhaps he won’t always be able to maintain the same level of threat from the wing as he goes into the latter stages of his career. However, based on the glimpses he has shown as a central midfielder, he could still have a long-term future at Liverpool in this new role and become a key creator.
Salah is simply world class and the fact that he’s able to adapt to different positions and change his game recently means Liverpool should have no qualms about extending his contract and prolonging his stay at Anfield.
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