Antonio Rudiger reveals moment he noticed Mohamed Salah change that sparked superstardom

Antonio Rudiger has lifted the lid on a change he saw from during the pair's time together at Roma, when the foward developed a one-track mind for scoring goals and registering assists.

Rudiger and Salah spent two years in the same Roma side between 2015 and 2017, with Salah scoring 34 goals in 83 appearances across his time in the Italian capital.

Salah netted 15 times in his first season at Roma, before scoring 19 times in his second campaign, and Rudiger said that it was during that second season that he noticed. a significant shift in Salah's mentality.

"I'm not surprised about this (seeing what Salah has done at ," Rudiger told Inside Scoop. "I'm really not surprised, because in his second season, we played two years together, and we came in the same year to Roma. Me and him left in 2017 - he went to Liverpool, I went to Chelsea.

"In the second season [at Roma], you could see, this guy is on a different mission you know, like, he was more direct. In the first season he was trying to dribble and beat men one vs one, but in the second season he was very direct. He just wanted goals. He just wanted goals and assists.

"And obviously I didn't know that he was thinking about Liverpool already but then one day he told me he was leaving to Liverpool and I remember that first season he had. I think he shocked the whole world, and that's why for me I was not too surprised, I was not too surprised. And the crazy thing is, he got better, better, better every year."

Salah's first season at Liverpool saw him score 44 goals in 52 appearances, and in every season since then he has scored at least 23 goals in all competitions, notching at least 30 on three more occasions too.

The 32-year-old has started the new campaign in fine form, with six goals and five assists in nine appearances, underlining his importance to the team at a time when his future at the club is far from certain.

Salah is into the final nine months of his current contract at Anfield and Liverpool must decide what to do next. Liverpool does not generally offer lengthy extensions to players over 30 but it could be worth making an exception for a player of Salah's calibre.