Salah Wants Golden Boot, But Winning Comes First
Mohamed Salah embraces his battle with Harry Kane for the Premier League Golden Boot
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah admits he wants to win the Premier League's Golden Boot and prove Chelsea were wrong not to give him a chance.
The Egypt international has enjoyed a spectacular season since signing from Roma for an initial €42million last June, scoring 40 goals in all competitions.
With 30 of those goals coming in the top flight, Salah is on course to claim the prize for the league's top scorer, with closest rival Harry Kane back on 26 for the campaign.
Although he insists Liverpool's results are the priority, the former Basel forward says getting his hands on the individual prize is now a real goal.
"As you can see in the last couple of games, the players are trying to help me a lot now to score goals, because they know now I am in for the Golden Boot," he told Sky Sports. "In the end it is an individual award, but it also helps the team get the points.
"The way we play is very good, and you can see the fans are very happy and I feel very good about that, I feel they want me to win something.
"It's the last four games, so it's very clear, I play for it. In the beginning I played for it, but it's always for the team. I want to score for the team.
"But before, when I was second to Kane, I had a chance to score, I gave it to Bobby [Roberto Firmino] and he scored. I play football for football not just to think about myself. I give assists, I create chances, because I can't forget my position. I play still on the wing, not number nine. I play for the team and everyone can see that."
Salah's consistency has been in stark contrast to his difficult spell at Chelsea, for whom he managed just 13 league appearances before Jose Mourinho allowed him to leave on loan for Fiorentina and eventually Roma.
The 25-year-old hopes he has gone a long way towards proving his doubters wrong from his time at Stamford Bridge.
"I know from the first day I wanted to do something different, something special," he said. "I was here with Chelsea, didn't get my chance, and then came back. I wanted to show everyone my football.
"I didn't play. You can see by the numbers. I didn't have my chance, but you can see when I did get my chance I proved some people wrong.
"You can see the difference [in me] between now, a year before, two years before that. Every year, every day, every month I am proving myself. I always try to see my weakness, work on it, to be better as a person and a player, everything.
"You can see my body now is different than before, my finishing is different, I am more comfortable on the pitch and am trying to improve every day.
"I think I have had a great season, doing very well with the team, fighting to be in the top positions, second or third. I can't forget what the team give me, the way we play, the way they support me inside and outside of the pitch."
