Mo Salah’s greatest Liverpool partnership occurred accidentally – ‘They had been by no means greatest associates’

For an attacking trio that netted nearly 500 goals, the emergence of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino as Liverpool’s front three was more down to chance than careful planning.

The tale of Salah initially choosing Chelsea ahead of the Reds in January 2014 has been thoroughly chronicled over the years, and his eventual arrival at Anfield three years later wasn’t exactly guaranteed either, considering Jurgen Klopp required persuasion from key figures within the club’s scouting network that summer.

“The scouting department was really behind me, and wanted to do it even earlier so that nobody could jump in” Klopp said in 2017. “We were sure he can help us. Michael Edwards, Dave Fallows and Barry Hunter, they were really in my ear and were on it: ‘Come on, come on, Mo Salah, he’s the solution.’

JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

Firmino, the brilliant forward who eventually became fondly known as ‘Bobby,’ was recruited almost despite the objections of then-manager Brendan Rodgers, who insisted Christian Benteke should also be acquired alongside him during the summer of 2015 as a confused approach unfolded behind closed doors.

Firmino was struggling without a settled role during Rodgers’ final period in charge. Indeed, the player who would later master the ‘false 9′ position was once spotted drifting in an unfamiliar wing-back role as Rodgers’ side fell to defeat at Manchester United.

Firmino’s evolution into one of the most selfless and talented strikers of his generation was far from apparent in his initial weeks at the club, to say the least. At £29m, a significant sum for a club like Liverpool 11 years ago, he appeared to be a colossal failure, until Klopp’s arrival.

Sadio Mane, the first substantial signing of the Klopp era, costing around £30m in 2016, had also been previously overlooked by the German during his tenure at Borussia Dortmund.

Klopp once admitted that the Senegal star “looked like a rapper” when they first met, leading the then BVB boss to conclude: “I don’t have time for this”.

So the notion that the two dynamic African wingers would always seamlessly combine with the brilliant Brazilian who flawlessly tied everything together was never a certainty at Anfield.

However, when fans inevitably reflect on the various forwards who Salah partnered with during his nine-year stint at Liverpool, it will be the Egyptian’s partnerships with Mane and Firmino that will evoke the warmest memories.

Their first season together produced 91 goals as Liverpool made their way to a Champions League final in Kyiv.

Salah, quite astonishingly, netted 44 in his debut campaign, while Firmino scored a career-high 27, and Mane hit the 20-goal mark with his equaliser against Real Madrid in Ukraine as dreams of a sixth European Cup were ultimately quashed.

That European dream was only postponed for a year when Salah thundered home the opener from a penalty Mane earned, as Klopp’s Reds clinched the Champions League in Madrid against Tottenham Hotspur.

By the summer of 2020, Salah, Mane and Firmino had propelled Liverpool to the Premier League crown, having also captured the UEFA Super Cup and a first FIFA Club World Cup in 2019. It represented a golden era, underpinned by some of the most electrifying attacking football witnessed at Anfield in decades courtesy of their lethal, three-pronged offensive unit.

Across the five seasons played, there were merely 50 matches where Mane and Salah didn’t appear together, with the duo triumphing in 150 of their 223 encounters.

Their emergence as wide forwards coincided with football’s tactical evolution into a sport where wide players were charged with scoring the bulk of goals rather than the No.9s spearheading the attack.

And it was arguably the competitive tension that undoubtedly existed between Salah and Mane, two of Africa’s finest ever players, that elevated standards during that spectacular spell.

An incident at Burnley in 2019, when Mane appeared visibly annoyed at Salah’s reluctance to pass to him during a 3-0 victory, was frequently cited – possibly unjustly over the years – as evidence that both stars didn’t always share the same wavelength.

Although that particular incident has probably been exaggerated given how frequently the pair combined in the years that followed, those who witnessed it never disputed that the duo thrived on at least some friction.

“They were never best friends,” Firmino wrote in his book. “The three of us had very different personalities, Mane the most explosive, my role [was] as peacemaker, unifier. It was rare to see the two of them talking. But they never severed ties, always acted with the utmost professionalism.”

“Great player,” Mane told Rio Ferdinand about Salah in 2025. “Everybody says the same [that there was a rivalry], you know, usually. But it’s not…I don’t think it’s a bad thing. And me, I’m someone who is quiet, but I’m friendly with everybody in the team. I’m like this.”

Salah himself, speaking in 2024, reflected: “We both give everything we have to help the team win. Maybe we’re competing to show who is the best, and this is normal in any team and a legitimate right for any player, but in the end, we serve the team.”

Speaking in March, Klopp said: “The time with Mo and Sadio together, they were a challenge, of course they were. Special players are a challenge. Tell me one who is not?”

It was appropriate that it was Klopp, frequently the eloquent spokesman for all matters Liverpool, who best pierced through the exaggeration surrounding the relationship between Mane and Salah.

The images of the duo embracing during an Africa Cup of Nations semi-final earlier this year in Morocco provided ample evidence of the mutual respect they continue to share, recognising that the triumphs they secured during an extraordinary era for the club could never have materialised without each other’s contributions.