Mohamed Salah's overdue recognition a sign of his harsh criticism's.

Salah's rise to prominence.

There is no doubt that Mohamed Salah's accelerating rise to stardom has been nothing shy of remarkable following his £37 million move from Roma in 2017. Since then, Mo Salah has made the Premier League his stomping ground, obliterating the record for most goals in a Premier League season in his first campaign for the Reds, scoring a hilarious 32 goals in 36 games. Salah's personal accolades that season were the only positive from a Liverpool perspective, as Liverpool fell short to Real Madrid in the Champions League final that year, a game Salah will remember for all the wrong reasons. Salah's critics arrived soon after the 2017/2018 campaign ended and they suggested that Salah's remarkable debut season would be short-lived and that his early high standards would drop off significantly. No player could match what Salah done that season consistently, unless of course your Ronaldo or Messi, but Salah proved his consistency as a world class attacker the season after, notching up another 22 goals in the league and 5 in the Champions League, the latter of those goals helping his side to banishing the demons from Kiev and defeating Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid to make it 6 UCL's for Liverpool. He also shared the Golden Boot that season with teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal's Pierre Emerick Aubameyang. A cult hero amongst the Liverpool faithful at this stage for the Egyptian. His goals in the league were also a huge contribution to Liverpool nearly completing the double, only to miss out on the title by a point to Manchester City in what was one of the most highly contested Premier League campaigns in decades with both teams amassing 195 points between them. Salah was influencing a trophy laden run for Liverpool with his goals and general all-round play. His impact at that stage had been monumental to Liverpool's revival under Jurgen Klopp. In his third season with the Reds, Salah had his worst season in front of goal in the league, scoring 19, which for a wide forward remember is still very credible. Salah's personal accolades and statistics were left to one side that year as Liverpool ended their 30 year wait for a league title. The Coronavirus pandemic may have stinted the celebrations in Liverpool but the club's rise from the ashes since the likes of Klopp, Salah, Van Dijk and Mane entered the club will live long in the memory. More memories looked a certainty with this free-scoring and defensively sound Liverpool side but the injury to Virgil Van Dijk at the start of the 2020/2021 campaign set in motion an unfortunate turn of events for the club. Their long unbeaten run at Anfield was willingly surrendered, they went onto to lose a further 6 home games in a row a club record, and just managed to finish 3rd in what was a dismal title defense. However, despite all this Salah was still doing what his does best, scoring goals, notching up another 22 that season. Salah illuminated his quality to the world even further that year by setting his usual high standards in front of goal in what was honestly a very poor Liverpool side. Salah had truly become an assassin in front of goal, scoring 133 goals in 211 appearances with 45 assists too. Although his quality was undeniable, he was still not everyone's marquee forward and it's hard to understand why. His name was always brought up in conversation of the current best in the world, but many swayed away from arguing that he was on top of the tree.

Salah's eventual recognition.

This season, Salah has got off to a flyer scoring 6 in the first 7 games, coupled with his 3 goals in 2 in the Champions League. Salah looks on course to break all kinds of records with the early standard of goal scoring he has set but what has truly ignited his praise amongst the media and pundits a like was his achievement of reaching the 100 club in the Premier League. He stands as the fifth quickest player to achieve that accolade in the competition's history, surpassing a star-studded list of names. Following his achievement, Rio Ferdinand spoke about the lack of praise Salah has received since arriving in England, stating that "we need to do a whole segment on Salah not getting the attention, the time, the talk, the focus which he deserves." Coming from an ex-Manchester United player, this resounds with what this article is trying to portray. Salah's quality is there for everyone to see but the decision to speak and flaunt his talents is less preferred to other players, who arguably don't deserve the attention that Salah does. Another key moment this season that has sparked media praise for Salah was his incredible solo goal against Manchester City in that 2-2 classic at Anfield last weekend. It was almost as if we had forgot that Salah was capable of scoring such a goal and beating such caliber players with such passive ease. He truly is an incredible footballer and consistently reminds every pundit, journalist and football fan year in year out. However, following his performance against the champions, many statistics and accolades associated with the Egyptian were thrown about social media in an attempt to illuminate his growing quality as a prolific goal scorer. Some of them are quite stunning given his short time at the club. In the modern era, Salah's goals per game ratio for Liverpool is the best, beating the likes of Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. Salah is also 2 goals away from becoming the highest scoring African in the Premier League, looking to beat the iconic Didier Drogba. The scary element of that statistic is that Salah has played 90 games less than the Ivorian. Truly astonishing. Another one is that since joining Liverpool, Salah has outperformed Neymar in goals and assists yet has never been included in the same level of quality as the Brazilian. For Liverpool, only the great Gordon Hodgson of the 1930s has a better goals per game ratio, with nobody reaching 100 goals for the Reds quicker than Salah. His goals and assists aren't the only facts that define Salah's greatness. In the last four Premier League campaigns, Salah has racked up just over 3000 minutes for Liverpool. His ability to stay fit and commitment to his team is of paramount importance to making a case for his quality. All of this has been no newfound news, Salah has established these records and accolades for months yet only now are they coming to light. Recently, Salah was nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was the eventual winner. Salah's case for the reward was alarming but nonetheless Ronaldo's hype and great start to the campaign probably gave him the edge. However, this exposed a very surprising fact. Mo Salah's last POTM award came in March 2018. Since then, Salah has 99 goals and assists and again this just heightens the argument that Salah is a victim of his own success. The early standards he set with that 32 goal campaign might have created a high expectation for future seasons but nevertheless, Salah deserves the praise that has been heaped on him in recent weeks and his journey to becoming a Premier League legend may have already been established.