The 29-year-old Egyptian star also expressed his pleasure for receiving the Football Writers’ Association’s Men’s Footballer of the Year Award for 2021/22, thanking everyone who voted for him.
“It feels great. First of all, I want to thank everyone who voted for me. Of course, journalists are a big part of the football family, and hopefully we can win some more this season,” Salah said during an interview after receiving the award.
The FWA Footballer of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is deemed to have been the best of the season in English football. The award has been presented since the 1947/48 season.
The winner is selected by a vote among members of the FWA, which comprises around 400 football journalists based throughout England.
This is the second time that Salah has claimed the award, with the first being in the 2017/18 season.
Liverpool are in a hot race with arch-rivals Man City for the EPL title, with the Reds playing second fiddle with 82 points, only one point behind leaders Man City, with four games remaining for the two teams.
“Not everything is in our hands — we have to win our games in the Premier League and see if City drop points or not,” Salah said.
“They (Man City) have a great team and a great manager, I’m sure they want to keep winning. But it’s possible,” he added.
Liverpool claimed 25 victories in the league race, drew in seven, and lost four games, while City won 26 games, drew in five, and lost three games so far this season.
“First, we have to finish our games in the Premier League and then we’ll see,” Salah said.
“We have four games left, just like City, who can drop points. We just need to focus on the Spurs game and go from there,” the Egyptian winger added.
Liverpool will also face a tough mission on 28 May when the play against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League’s final game at Stade de France in Paris.
“I’m so excited, I’m sure the team as well is so excited about it. I’m sure it’s going to be a tough game; they’ve beaten a lot of good teams. We just need to focus on the game,” Salah said.
Real Madrid claimed the 2018 UEFA Champions League title after beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final game when Salah left the pitch with a shoulder injury.
When asked if the game against Madrid is a “revenge mission”, Salah said: “Yeah, we lost in the (2018) final, it was a sad day for all of us. It’s time for revenge.”
With Salah on its side, Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League title in the 2018/19 season as well as the 2020 EPL title, which had eluded the team since 1981.
Salah, who has already claimed eight trophies with the Reds, scored 22 goals and provided 13 assists in 31 appearances so far this season in the EPL.
He has also become the second fastest Liverpool player to break the 150-goal mark, just behind Roger Hunt, who achieved the feat in 226 games.
The Liverpool star is the only Egyptian player ever to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or Award, which was established in 1956 to honour the year’s best player across the world.
Salah was nominated for the award thrice, finishing sixth in 2018, fifth in 2019, and seventh in 2021.
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