Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz should bring the best out of Mohamed Salah, scout and analyst, Umir Irfan, says.
Last season, we saw perhaps the best ever version of Salah. Not only did he play a pivotal role in winning the Premier League – his second and the club’s 20th – he did it in record-breaking fashion.
Never has a player scored and assisted as many goals (47) in a single Premier League season. Salah scored 29 goals to claim the Golden Boot while his 18 assists were more than enough to win the Playmaker Award as well.
Interestingly, it had a lot to do with a decreased defensive work load. All throughout his Anfield career, Salah has been one of the best pressing forwards in Europe but in Arne Slot’s first season at Liverpool, he wasn’t nearly as inbolved in harrying defenders or chasing down opposition forwards.
Salah said this was due to a conversation with Slot before the season started.
“I told him ‘as long as you rest me defensively, I will provide offensively’,” he said.
“Try to rest me as much as I can, then I will show you the numbers. So I’m glad that I did.”
All in all, Salah scored 34 goals and provided 23 assists last season.
Yet, he could get better still… Scary thought.
Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz could be the key to getting even more out of Mohamed Salah
The defensive work rate and talents of Wirtz and Ekitike, in particular, will maximise Mohamed Salah’s attacking output next season.
This is what professional football scout and analyst Umir Irfan believes.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: “Ekitike is a really impressive player. There’s room for him to improve, which is always an exciting thing – but one thing he does offer is something that is very complementary to the rest of the players around him. I always think that is the most important thing when you sign a player.
“At Liverpool you have Salah, who you want to maximise for the next couple of years. He’s not a player you want defending loads. With Florian Wirtz and Ekitike – they are both players who press incredibly well.
“But, it’s not only the defensive side. On the ball Ekitike drops in really well and facilitates play by combining with the midfield really well, almost in a Firmino-like manner.
“That allows players like Salah or Wirtz to come inside and attack further up the pitch more centrally. On top of that, he has a great passing range and willingness to run in behind – whether that is to let other players come inside or free up space for the midfielders behind him.
“He’s a very selfless player in general play and is someone who I think will facilitate Salah’s game really well. But, he is selfish in the box in terms of taking lots of shots, which is always something you want from your number nine.”
