Gini Wijnaldum has praised summer signing Mohamed Salah for settling down so quickly at Liverpool and making an instant impact on the team.
The Egyptian has been in sparkling form this pre-season and scored his third goal for the club on Saturday as he rounded things off in an impressive 3-0 win over Hertha Berlin.
He has so far lived up to expectations by proving to be a perfect fit to Jurgen Klopp’s system and Wijnaldum, who was also on the score-sheet, is already excited by what the winger has to offer.
“He’s really flying. I didn’t see his goal because I was in the changing room but I heard it was a good goal,” the Dutchman told Liverpoolf.com.
“He has settled in really well. He’s not only a great player but also a great person, and that makes it easier for him but also for us to accept him. Since the moment he came here, he felt free to be himself. It’s a good thing for us.”
“It’s always good to play with good players.”
“And when they are quick – as you see with Sadio (Mane) and Mo – that makes it easier for us because the opponent has to be aware of two quick players and that creates space somewhere else in the team. So everyone can profit from the quality of those players.”
It has been the ideal start to life at Liverpool for Salah, not only in terms of finding his place on the pitch but also interacting with teammates and settling in comfortably to new surroundings.
Though the true test will come when the Premier League season gets underway, he looks at home in Klopp’s system and is already showing signs of developing a formidable partnership with Philippe Coutinho.
Saturday’s win served as further evidence of this with the Brazilian’s sublime lofted through ball feeding the run in behind from Salah, who was at hand to finish the move off by calmly lobbing the Hertha goalkeeper.
It’s a case of ‘so far so good’ for Salah at the moment and, perhaps more importantly, also a sign of things to come.
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