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The rise and rise of Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah has been a revelation for the Reds since signing from Roma in 2017 and has been climbing Liverpool’s goal-scoring ranks at a seemingly unstoppable rate. The Reds had to spend just £34million for the Egyptian and has a contract running until 2023. With 72 goals and 25 assists in 113 appearances for the Reds, he is on his way to become the club's Premier League record goal scorer. He is the recipient of the previous two Golden Boot awards; the Chelsea flop defied all expectations in his debut Liverpool season in 2017/18 by scoring 32 Premier League goals in just 36 appearances - the highest tally in a 38-game Premier League season. He shared the 2018/19 Golden Boot with fellow Africans, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 22 goals to bag his second straight Golden Boot. He has netted in 16 goals this season and is four goals shy from becoming the first player since Robbie Fowler in 1997 to score 20 goals in three consecutive seasons with the Reds.

Initially Klopp had his reservations about signing Salah in the first place, but his scouting staff including Michael Edwards, Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter desperately pleaded with Klopp to sign the Egyptian King from Roma. The Liverpool boss was even about to sign one of Douglas Costa, Gelson Martins and Julian Brandt, if a deal for Mo Salah hit the buffers in the summer of 2017. It was even reported that the German preferred Julian Brandt at the time, but Klopp would now be mighty glad that he went with the instincts of the scouting department.

In FIFA 14, I was surprised to see the Liverpool forward play for Chelsea as a midfielder! He might arguably be one of the best right-wingers in the history of Liverpool football, but Mohamed Salah's starting position wasn't always so high up the pitch. Forget midfielder, he was a left-back when he started his football career! His former youth coach Said El-Shishini said that he was one of the 5 left-backs at Arab Contractors' Under-16 team. He immediately identified his ability to dribble past defenders right from the left-back position to the penalty box and encouraged him to switch positions all those years ago (He must be very grateful to have had him as his youth coach...).

Many football pundits predicted that his future at Anfield looks bleak. Real Madrid were ready to splash in £126 million to acquire Salah, but he declined the offer. It is far more difficult to become a legend at Santiago Bernabeu than at Anfield and the Egyptian realises the drawbacks of switching his base to the Spanish capital. While the La Liga giants were seen as the pinnacle of success for footballing greats, the recent decline of Eden Hazard proves otherwise.

Salah quashed the transfer rumour sand promised the fans at Anfield that he will be staying at the club for the foreseeable future. Even Jürgen Klopp believes that he is settled and eager to prove his worth at Liverpool; he can see his hunger to stay at Liverpool. Salah has helped Liverpool transform from perennial underachievers into the greatest football club on planet earth during the Jurgen Klopp era and he sees his future with the club for years to come.

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Brandon Williams- On his way to emulate Gary Neville

A lot of attention was on Mason Greenwood as the next young player to come through, owing to his fantastic goal scoring record and was even a famous figure in youth football. Brandon Williams was an unknown commodity at the time when he made his debut, but came in and hit his stride from the very first game and has even played more minutes than Greenwood, which only proves his worth. 

He has come from nowhere to cement his place at the first choice left-back ahead of veteran Luke Shaw and has adapted superbly to Premier League football at Old Trafford since his breakthrough.

His family did not believe him when he was called up to the Man Utd first team for the Champions League second leg against Paris St. Germain. He is a momma's boy and often pops into his mom's cafe to engage in some delicious sausages and egg fry-ups. This may put him in trouble with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the food-in-question is definitely not a traditional staple of a footballer's diet!

The 19-year-old starlet takes no prisoners, which was evident when he clashed with Dani de Wit on his full debut in the Europa League draw against AZ Alkmaar in Holland. He even sent Callum Hudson-Odoi over an advertisement hoarding in the EFL cup victory against Chelsea. It’s that attitude which has helped to endear him to United fans so quickly. This behaviour and no nonsense defending makes him a fan favourite at Old Trafford, but many football pundits consider his attitude to be unsportsmanlike. He may not look particularly threatening but he actually hails from a boxing family. Aggression runs through his veins and is a fiery character with an appetite for dust-ups and has even been hailed as the future captain of the Red Devils.

Surprisingly, he has played more minutes in England’s top-flight than Man City’s Phil Foden has managed in his entire career!

The Red Devils boss is set to overhaul the Manchester United squad in the upcoming transfer window, but abandoned his plans to search for a new left-back after the emergence of the teenage sensation. The Norwegian boss is so impressed by the Mancunian that he has decided not to pursue a new left-back and promised regular game time for him next season. This will save them £50 million and will aid United in acquiring an experienced stalwart as reinforcement in the attacking position.

United legend Gary Neville is excited for him and loves the defender's all action displays. He even said that Williams would even eat "his opponent's nose" to win the ball. He is known for his battling mentality, tough tackling, and no-nonsense approach, which reminds us of Neville.

Williams could give United an attacking outlet with his marauding runs down the touchline, and could perform the same role as Trent Alexander-Arnold performs on the other side of the pitch for Liverpool.

His performance has been more or less consistent and has been a revelation for the Red Devils. It has been a stratospheric rise for Williams and represents the next generation of Manchester United. He is set for an exciting career at Old Trafford and could even emulate the legendary Gary Neville some day as the greatest full-back in the history of United football.

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Frank Lampard - On his journey to become a legendary manager

A former legend returning to the club as their new manager was the one of the most appealing things to the fan base amid difficult times. Chelsea fans erupted in joy knowing that the club's record goal scorer and the greatest midfielder will return to Stamford Bridge in a new capacity. Fans turned up in large numbers at Stamford Bridge only to watch Frank James Lampard manage his beloved club.

He became the manager of Chelsea in hostile circumstances. They no longer had the services of the best left-winger, following his transfer to Los Blancos and a transfer ban meant that the pre-arranged signings of Christian Pulisic and Mateo Kovacic were the only ones made to strengthen his squad. Lampard had no choice but to rely on the club’s many promising young players, and having fulfilled their potential under him only proves that he is capable of building on the optimism that came with his appointment as the successor to one of Europe’s most reputed coaches.

Following his 13-year playing career at Stamford Bridge with stints at Manchester City and New York City, Lampard made the move into coaching and impressed during his campaign with Championship side Derby County. Lampard led Derby to the Championship play-off final, where they suffered a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa, in his first season as a manager. He is a player know to backup his young fledglings and he proved that with his spell at Derby, where he gave more minutes to players under 21 in the Championship than any other club. He took that to the next level at Chelsea by filling the starting XI with academy graduates to take the Blues through the season.

The legendary midfielder said his year at Manchester City introduced him to a different style of football and opened his eyes to another club and philosophy, which played an integral part in shaping his managerial approach.

The club’s all-time record goal scorer endured a poor start to life as Chelsea boss, as he had to wait for four games to register his first victory as a manager of a top-flight club, but that didn't stop him from exploring new options. He uses multiple formations to find out the best that suits his Chelsea team and to frustrate the opposition at the same time.

It is quite surprising that he is the only English manager at a top-six club and he is using a predominantly English coaching staff to support the team behind the scenes. He is, in fact, the first Englishman to manage the Blues in over two decades.

He has often been compared to Jose Mourinho but Lampard insisted that he is his own man and not a Mourinho clone. He showed that even though he is a new kid on the block, he has the capability and potential to defeat 3 Champions League winning managers within 16 days (Klopp, Ancelotti, and Jose Mourinho).

He faced a lot of criticism for team selection, but has remained strong on his stance, keeping the likes of Mason Mount, Reece James, Billy Gilmour and Tammy Abraham as key members of the Chelsea team and was right in doing so. 

His fan following and their affection will surely be an advantage, but he will be inevitably subjected to the same whims as his predecessors in the boardroom. His stint at Derby indicates that he will turn into an excellent manager, but only if he makes the right choices along the way. His status with Chelsea fans should buy him the time to acclimatize to the top flight and working with world-class talents will surely give him a chance to be more expansive in his tactical approach to matches.