Real Madrid’s German defender Antonio Rüdiger has spoken to the media about his time with Mohamed Salah at AS Roma. The both players joined the Serie A side in 2015, spending two years at the club before leaving to Premier League giants.
Mo Salah joined Roma from Chelsea on loan in the first season for Roma, but a year later the Egyptian was signed from the Italian side for the 16/17 season. The same happened with Los Blancos’s defender, who left Stuttgart and joined the club on loan, signing a permanent deal until the next season.
Before moving to England, both players were regular starters under Luciano Spalleti, finishing third in the Serie A table in the first year, and second with only four points less than the first place in the 16/17 season. In their time at Roma, Rügider scored only two goals, showing solid performances in the defense. On the other hand, Mohamed Salah scored 29 league goals for Giallorossi, which opened the interest for European giants on his signing.
Mo Salah left AS Roma and joined Liverpool in 2017 and since then the Egyptian King has been the best winger in the league, scoring 32 goals in his first season. His impact under Jurgen Klopp has been one of the key factors in the Reds’s success over the last years, winning the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2021.
Antonio Rüdiger completed his move to Chelsea in 2017, spending five years at Stamford Bridge, winning the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel in 2021 against Manchester City in the final.
Speaking about his former teammate, Rüdiger told the media about Salah’s qualities and his wish to join Liverpool before Italy. The German said that he was not surprised about Mo becoming one of the best players in the world because he knew how good the player was.
Antonio continued saying that in the first season at Roma, Mohamed Salah was more focused on dribbling past defenders, going against them 1v1, but in the second season the player was more direct and was hungry for scoring goals and providing assists.
Later he revealed that the Egyptian King had already his mind on a move to Liverpool but Rüdiger didn’t feel surprised by the news, knowing the potential the player has.
Mohamed Salah has continued to show his high level in the Premier League every year by scoring the most goals in the league three times in seven years at the club. Until now the player has scored 217 goals and provided 94 assists since his arrival at Anfield, and the stats are still going up in the new 24/25 season, in which the player has found the net four times under Arne Slot.
Liverpool will face Real Madrid on 27 November in the Champions League as we wait for another reunion between AS Roma’s former players.
See below the tweet from @LiverpoolZoneX:
