Mohamed Salah has long been hailed as the most dedicated player amongst the Liverpool squad.
The Egyptian’s work ethic is notorious, and despite beginning to enter into his mid-thirties, his physique is always kept in impeccable shape.
Only recently, Conor Bradley confirmed that Salah is still first to training every morning at the AXA Training Centre.
Got a horrible feeling Slot is going to keep Gakpo in the XI and drop Salah 😬 Who should be the front four vs Forest?
Liverpool predicted XI vs Nottingham Forest
Liverpool predicted XI vs Nottingham Forest
Similar stories have been told throughout the 33-year-old’s eight years with Liverpool, with only Sadio Mane previously able to match his thirst for gym work.
However, Dominik Szoboszlai has taken over Salah‘s role as Liverpool’s most important player this season, and along with Milos Kerkez, the Hungarian appears to be challenging his older teammate to get in early every morning.
Szoboszlai and Kerkez arriving early to training
This season has felt like the one in which Salah’s influence at Liverpool finally begins to wane.
While that is a sad reality, there will always be somebody ready to take on the mantle with the Reds, and Szoboszlai has proven to be that man.
Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool react during a Liverpool Training Session at AXA Training Centre
Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images
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It possibly helps that Salah and Szoboszlai are especially close, and according to The Times, some of the Egypt captain’s traits are rubbing off on his younger teammate.
They claim that Szoboszlai, Salah and Kerkez are now ‘usually’ the first three players to arrive every morning.
Furthermore, the trio are said to often be seen sitting together at the training ground’s coffee bar and also eat at each other’s houses.
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Mohamed Salah scores a free-kick during Liverpool's UEFA Champions League match against Qarabag at Anfield (Credit: Getty Images/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar
Kerkez’s hard work is paying off
Szoboszlai has been pegged as a machine in terms of physicality ever since his arrival at Liverpool. Nevertheless, there were reports that he would not initially listen to coaches in regards to gym work, so it is nice to see him now taking it more seriously. It is certainly paying off.
The hard work is clearly coming to fruition for Kerkez as well, as he throws himself into life at Liverpool.
The left-back is a determined character and he is obviously pushing to make it work at Anfield after a difficult start.
Given the improvement in Kerkez recently, it is safe to say that he is seeing the benefit of putting in the hard yards behind the scenes.
In Szoboszlai and Salah he has two terrific role models, and if he continues to follow in their footsteps he will not go far wrong. As for Salah, his crown has been toppling for some time on the pitch, it looks as though someone else is ready to snatch it on the training ground as well.
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