Pep Lijnders has lauded the professionalism of ‘special’ star Mo Salah ahead of Liverpool’s upcoming Carabao Cup encounter with Leicester City.
The Dutch assistant coach sat in place of Jurgen Klopp, as has become the norm for the club’s league cup fixtures, with his comments on the Egyptian relayed by the Echo’s Paul Gorst on X.
Lijnders on potentially resting Salah: "He is breaking record after record, a very special player, a mentor, a leader. I see him in the gym, coming in early, I see a real professional with experience; a man who can lead without being captain. It's special."
— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) September 26, 2023
It must be quite the sight with the Egyptian King (signed for £34.3m in 2017 – Sky Sports) straight to business early morning, constantly keeping his extremely chiselled form in check.
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A role model for Lijnders and Co to keep hold of
One can only imagine our No.11 is considered something of a godsend for our young, impressionable stars, setting examples for the likes of Ben Doak and Harvey Elliott.
The former Fulham Academy graduate had once remarked that he’d taken advice from the 31-year-old over matters as small as the type of bread he should be eating (brown, to be specific), though we’d imagine even more valuable lessons are taking place on a weekly basis on the training ground.
There’s a sporting argument for extending Salah’s stay at Anfield beyond the 2024 mark, but one might venture our coaching staff would be keen to arrange such an eventuality just to ensure that one of the club’s best role models continues his work on the red half of Merseyside for the foreseeable future.