Liverpool legend John Barnes believes Mo Salah will have shocked even himself with his incredible goalscoring feats this season ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final against Real Madrid.
The man nicknamed the ‘Egyptian King’ has claimed a remarkable 44-goal haul to fire the Reds into their eighth European Cup final in Kiev.
Salah has won the hearts of Liverpool supporters all over the world with stunning displays which destroyed Manchester City and Roma en-route to the Ukrainian capital.
Former Reds and England winger Barnes, one of the greatest players in the club’s history, attributes the 25-year-old’s success largely to Jurgen Klopp’s attacking philosophy.
Barnes, who won two league titles and an FA Cup during a 10-year spell at Anfield, told The Sportsman: “I certainly didn’t see Salah doing as well as he has this season, but I think he’s also surprised himself.
“For him to score 40-odd goals, no-one could have expected that.
“He’s a great player, but the way that Liverpool play with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino alongside him really helps Salah and I don’t think he could have done any better than under a manager like Klopp.
“Hopefully he can repeat it next season, but I don’t think he’s going to score as many goals as he has this year.
“However, I hope he can still be a success and help Liverpool to make a stronger challenge for the Premier League title.”
Barnes can relate to the pressure Salah faced when arriving at Anfield from Roma last summer in a £36m move.
On June 9, 1987, he was signed from Watford by Kenny Dalglish in a £900,000 deal.
Barnes remembered: “I never found it difficult because I was joining a team who were the best at the time and I had also done it for several years at the highest level with Watford.
“After my first year at Watford, I might have thought ‘am I able to do this again and again?’
“But after four or five years of doing it in the top division, you know you have the consistency to do that.
“Therefore there was much less pressure on me, whereas with Mo Salah this is his first year at Liverpool and it will probably be harder for him to replicate it next season.
“As I say, he doesn’t have to score 40-odd goals again to still be successful because I don’t think he will necessarily be the top scorer next year.
“But he can still be effective and help Liverpool to win.”
Barnes remains a huge Liverpool fan and will travel to Kiev on an official club trip this weekend for the showdown with Zinedine Zidane’s side.
The Spanish aristocrats have been crowned kings of Europe a record 12 times and are aiming for a hat-trick of successive Champions League final wins.
Like Salah, former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo has netted 44 times this season but Zidane said on Monday that he would not swap any of his players for Liverpool’s Egypt international.
Assessing this weekend’s showdown, Barnes said: “Liverpool are playing with confidence and a Champions League final is a one-off game, but the one thing you would say is that we have to play well to win.
“You’ve seen Real Madrid play badly and win and I suppose they could do that again – but for us we have to play well to win.
“Also, you can’t say if you stop (Cristiano) Ronaldo then you’ll win because Real Madrid have got so many great players.
“If you stop Ronaldo, then you’ve got Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
“Real Madrid are an experienced team, and they may be favourites, but we’re playing with confidence and we’re playing well.
“We’re still going to play the exact same way in attack and it’s a one-off game, so anything can happen.
“I’ll be going over to the final as I’m a Liverpool supporter because I played for them for 10 years.
“But there are far bigger supporters than me – real supporters who go via planes, trains and automobiles!
“I’m looking forward to Liverpool putting in a good performance and hopefully they can do it.
“Fingers crossed, because for Liverpool to win the European Cup for a sixth time would be an unbelievable achievement.”
