Long journey

Salah's journey, figuratively as well as literally, was anything but easy.

"His talent clearly showed from the beginning," said Ghamri Abdel-Hameed el-Saadani, who was the junior coach at the Nagrig Youth Center, where Salah started training at the age of eight.

Still, Salah's success is not just due to his talent, "it's also a product of a will of steel, effort, and determination", said Saadani.

The mayor of the village, Maher Shateyya, a family friend, bursts with pride when he talks about Nagrig's most famous son.

"Mohamed was only 14 when he joined the Arab Contractors club in Cairo, and he had to spend nearly 10 hours a day in transport to make it to and from practice," said Shateyya of Salah's "journey of torment".

Nagrig to Basyoun, then to Tanta city, the capital of Al-Gharbiya province, then a bus to downtown Cairo, and a final ride to the Nasr City neighbourhood where the club is located.

Salah grew up in a sporty family, with his father and two uncles having played soccer at the youth club in Nagrig.

"In the beginning, Salah played with the team in Basyoun town, then he moved to Tanta city before he was taken by the Arab Contractors team."

Starting in the under-15s, Salah spent five years there before his talent earned him a move abroad to Swiss club Basel.

From Basel, Salah moved to Chelsea but failed to nail down a regular first-team spot. His career really took off in Italy, where eye-catching performances for Roma caught Liverpool's attention and he signed last year in a deal that could eventually be worth $60.8 million.