Arne Slot admits Mohamed Salah made an immediate impression on him after he smashed Liverpool's first pre-season fitness test of the summer.

The Dutchman took over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024 and had seen the Egyptian's quality from afar, but never up close. For years, Salah's dedication when it comes to fitness and recovery has been well publicised.

And Slot saw that up close and personal for the first time when he took charge of pre-season, with Salah returning from the summer and coming out on top in one of their pre-season tests. For several seasons, the ex-Roma forward had been the Reds' leading light, consistently topping the scoring charts.

But that didn't stop him putting in the graft and Slot was hugely impressed by the determination that Salah showed as he held himself to account.

He told the Liverpool website: "I started working with him and already the first day I was impressed by his professionalism because as with any season, it starts with a test that shows how much they did in the off-season and he beat all of them.

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"He was the fittest player that came back, and I think that's the ideal situation that you want as a manager: that your star player comes back as fit as he did. He had nothing to prove, but for himself he had a lot to prove because Mo always thinks he has to prove something every three days. That hunger never stops and that is something that I find most special about him."

Salah has endured a poor campaign by his high standards and will leave in the summer. Prior to this season the Egyptian has surpassed the 20-goal mark in every year he'd been at Anfield, hitting 34 last term en route to more individual accolades.

The 33-year-old's exploits over almost a decade have seen him marked out as one of the world's best players and his never ending desire to play every minute has not gone unnoticed by Slot.

He said: "So many good players around the world [and] he's definitely one of them in the last 10 years, that everybody talks about being one of the best there is and was in the last 10 years. To show that hunger every three days, that professionalism, that commitment to the club, to the team, to wanting to score again, always wanting to play – when you take him out three minutes before the end, he's like, 'Maybe I could have scored one extra!' – that is what stands out for me."

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