Mohamed Salah Says Totti, Brazil's Ronaldo Were His Footballing Heroes
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has revealed former Roma teammate Francesco Totti and Brazilian legend Ronaldo as his two football idols, while dismissing comparisons to Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi amid his extraordinary goalscoring exploits this season.
Since arriving at Anfield from Roma in the summer, Salah has notched an astonishing 43 goals across all competitions, and is on course to claim the Premier League's Golden Boot ahead of Spurs' Harry Kane.
In an interview with CNN Inside the Middle East (via the ECHO), the Egyptian international revealed his two childhood heroes.
He said: “I've said it before many times. The Brazilian Ronaldo and [Francesco] Totti. He's unbelievable. He's quality - both as a person and a player. He's calm, which is great, but has a very quiet confidence. I learnt a lot from him.”
Totti, who Salah played with at the Stadio Olimpico between 2015/2017, made 786 appearances for the Giallorossi before he retired at the end of last season to become the club's sporting director. Ronaldo, on the other hand, spent his illustrious career playing for a number of prestigious clubs, including both Real Madrid and Barcelona as well as Inter and AC Milan.
Salah, who won both the PFA and FWA player of the year awards, modestly dismissed comparisons made between himself and bona fide La Liga superstars Messi and Ronaldo.
He continued: “No, not for me. I knew from the beginning of the season that I had a target [for goals] in my mind.
"I will keep it until the end of the season and then I will say what it is. I'm happy about what I did until now, and I want to keep doing that until the last game, so yeah, we're going to see. We will do another interview at the end of the season! It's fine."
