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The mayor of the village, Maher Shateyya, a family friend, bursts with pride when he talks about Nagrig’s most famous son.
“Mohamed was only 14 when he joined the Arab Contractors club in Cairo, and he had to spend nearly 10 hours a day in transport to make it to and from practice,” said Shateyya of Salah’s “journey of torment”.
— Mohamed Salah (@22mosalah) January 7, 2018
Nagrig to Basyoun, then to Tanta city, the capital of Al-Gharbiya province, then a bus to downtown Cairo, and a final ride to the Nasr City neighbourhood where the club is located.
Salah grew up in a sporty family, with his father and two uncles having played football at the youth club in Nagrig.
“When his father noticed his son’s talent, he strived to enrol him at a big club,” said Shateyya.
“In the beginning, Salah played with the team in Basyoun town, then he moved to Tanta city before he was taken by the Arab Contractors team.”
Starting in the under-15s, Salah spent five years there before his talent earned him a moving abroad and Swiss club Basel.
Salah “imposed himself, and his ability to penetrate the other team’s defences shone”, Arab Contractors coach Said el-Shishini told AFP.
He recalled the dribbling ability that characterises Salah’s goalscoring exploits for Liverpool: “He would take the ball from the middle of the pitch straight into the penalty area.”
محمد صلاح والتراث السوداني في إسبانيا ضمن أفضل صور أفريقيا في أسبوع https://t.co/IxBwJ3Nx5h pic.twitter.com/GQuKqHv2Yn
— BBC Arabic بي بي سي (@BBCArabic) January 19, 2018
From Basel, Salah moved to Chelsea but failed to break into the first team. He went to Italy where eye-catching performances for Roma caught Liverpool’s attention and he signed last year in a deal that could eventually be worth 44 million pounds (49.5 million euros, $60.8 million).
– Summer return –
Salah was raised in a traditional family where both his parents had government jobs at the village. In addition to his government role, Salah’s father also traded in Jasmine flowers, Nagrig’s main harvest exported for perfume production.
In Nagrig, as far as the eye can see, the fields are filled with jasmine, which flowers in the spring.
Salah married Magi, a fellow Nagrig resident, when he was 20, and she has given birth to a girl they named Makka, the Saudi Arabian city that is home to Islam’s holiest site.
The Liverpool winger still spends his annual leave with his wife and daughter in Nagrig, where he has never forgotten his roots.
He has donated money to an intensive care unit at Basyoun Central Hospital and to a religious centre in Nagrig that is yet to be built, said Saadani.
Salah also founded a charity in Nagrig that provides up to 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,800) a month for people in need.
“He is very modest… eight-year-old Mohamed is the same Mohamed (as he is now), Africa’s top player.”
