Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has joked that he may be reduced to tears if Mohamed Salah continues to “destroy” all of his Premier League records.
The Liverpool forward recently surpassed Drogba as the top-scoring African player in Premier League history after he netted a hat-trick against Manchester United in the 5-0 win at Old Trafford.
The Egyptian entered the derby with a tally of 103 goals — just one behind Drogba’s 102 — and subsequently got his name on the scoresheet three times to inflict a morale-sapping defeat on Liverpool’s great rivals.
Salah has since netted once more to consolidate his standing as the competition’s most prolific African player, netting the third in Liverpool’s 4-0 demolition job of Arsenal on Saturday evening.
He actually netted his first Premier League goal in a Chelsea shirt during a brief stint in 2013/14, but the majority of his efforts have come on Merseyside, in which he has also nabbed two Golden Boots and set a single-season record of 32 goals (his debut campaign at Anfield, 2017/18).
With no signs that Salah is slowing down, Drogba is now worried the 29-year-old may yet shatter some of his other records. The former Ivory Coast international is currently the record-holder for the African player with the most Premier League assists (54) and the most Champions League goals (44).
“If he continues, he’s going to destroy all my records! I want to cry,” Drogba quipped on Mehwar TV.
Salah and Drogba crossed paths at Stamford Bridge during the latter’s return to the Blues in 2014/15, and although things didn’t quite work out for the Egyptian in west London, Chelsea’s legendary striker says he believes was always destined to make it, based on what he saw behind the scenes.
He added: “What I’ve seen during training, and all his team-mates will tell you, the quality was there.
“He just needed time on the pitch to show his talent and his quality.
“When you look at the squad we had at the time, it was not easy to play, but what really got me attached to Mo is that he’s really nice, he’s really polite, even when he was not playing.
“He was sad not to contribute, but he was always good. When you have this kind of intelligence it’s just a matter of time before you blow up.
“I remember we spoke a few times when he was at Roma and he was scoring goals and then he had a moment when he was not scoring and he asked me how to deal with this kind of situation.
“I shared with him a lot of examples and experience and how it happened to me and all the strikers.”