Mohamed Salah has swept Liverpool's pre-season fitness tests, but there was some surprise competition from the Reds youngster
Mohamed Salah has shown no signs of slowing down and has set the standard in Liverpool's gruelling pre-season fitness tests.
He Arne's Slot The era at Anfield appears to be in full swing as the new manager and his coaching staff kick things off by presenting a new test of endurance for their players.
Fans will have become accustomed to the infamous lactate test favoured by the former boss. Jurgen Klopp at the beginning of each preseason, which was routinely earned by the veteran ex-Red James Milner.
But the departure of both in the past 12 months had left an opportunity for a new fitness king to be crowned in Liverpool.
And that void seems to have been filled now, after the star striker Salah He reportedly shined in the new six-minute run test (6MRT) favored by Slot and his team.
In the exercise, players must cover as much ground as possible during six minutes of running around a 400m race track.
According The athleticThe Egypt captain, who returned to training last week just days after the Reds' first group of players, has knocked another standout player, Sepp van den Berg, off the top of the rankings.
Dutch defender van den Berg, who spent last season on loan at Bundesliga side Mainz and has been linked to an exit this summerinitially set the benchmark, before Salah recorded the longest distance covered by the entire team.
The 32-year-old's impressive fitness has been praised by fitness coach Conall Murtagh, who described him as “phenomenal”.
Salah faced the ordeal alongside teammate Wataru Endo, the pair returning together after international caps for Egypt and Japan.
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Murtagh urged the experienced duo: “It's important to show your mentality. Show the lads how it's done as leaders of the group.”
The striker's strong start to the training ground will please both Slot and the Reds faithful, and arguably demonstrates his intentions for next season, despite the fact that he is yet to sign a new contract with the club.
Salah is one of three key players who have yet to agree new terms on a contract that expires next summer, along with players Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Meanwhile, the wing wizard will join the Reds squad that will travel to the US for their pre-season tour on July 26, where they will face Arsenal, Manchester United and Real Betis.
Coach Slot will be relying on the experience of players like Salah during this trip, as several key figures will miss the tour due to their involvement in the latter stages of the European Championship and Copa America respectively.
Among them are Alexander-Arnold and his England teammate Joe Gomez, the Frenchman Ibrahima Konate and the Dutch trio of Van Dijk, Cody Gakpo and Ryan Gravenberchwho appeared in Euro 2024.
Meanwhile, America Cup winner Alexis MacAllisterwhile the Colombian Luis Diaz and the Uruguayan forward Darwin Nunez He also participated in the competition and will not be making the trip to the United States.
With many of Liverpool's stars yet to undergo the dreaded fitness test, it remains to be seen whether Salah will arrive at the end of the summer still top of the table.
