In the six years he’s been in England, the forward has come up against some incredible opponents. The likes of Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have had some top, top players in that time, but Salah has managed to continuously stand out as the cream of the crop.
In a recent interview with Sky Sports, the 31-year-old was asked about the players he’d come up against in his time at Liverpool. He was asked to name the toughest left-back he had faced with the Reds, as well as the one player he wants to team up with, above all others. It was a very revealing interview that gave a couple of surprising answers. Salah revealed Kevin De Bruyne is the one player he would team up with if he could Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne He surprisingly named Cesar Azpilicueta as the toughest left-back he’s come up against Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta reacts
The full interview with Salah on Sky Sports provides more insights into his opinions and experiences.
Mohamed Salah is one of the greatest players to ever play in the Premier League. Following his arrival at Liverpool in 2017, no one has dominated the English top flight in the manner in which the Egyptian has. Even now, into his 30s, he’s still performing at a very high level and might actually be having one of his best seasons yet.
Talking to Joe Thomlinson for the interview, Salah was asked whether there was any footballer in the world that he’d like to team up with a very honest answer. The Egyptian first pointed out that he’d clearly want to play alongside either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi in an ideal world, but outside of those two, he would want to play with City’s Kevin De Bruyne.
It’s an understandable answer, with the Belgian being one of the very best attacking midfielders in the world for close to a decade now. There are few players with his level of creative influence in the game and the work he’s done at the Etihad has been crucial to the club’s success in recent years. The two men both spent time at Chelsea early in their careers, but just missed each other, with De Bruyne spending two years between 2012-14 at Stamford Bridge, while Salah joined in 2014 until 2016.
Before talking about his ideal teammate, Salah was asked about the defenders that he found the hardest to play against, and he gave a very surprising answer. The Egyptian revealed that Cesar Azpilicueta was the toughest left-back he’d come up against during his time in the Premier League.
The Spaniard was an integral figure at Chelsea for years but often went underrated for one reason or another. He was a solid defender in the Premier League, whether it was in the centre of defence or out on the flank. In terms of the Blues all-time greats, he likely won’t be brought up too often but he is someone that Salah clearly rates very highly and for good reason.
