Mohamed Zidan was once the face of Egyptian football and says Jurgen Klopp told him “100 times” at Borussia Dortmund that he was a better player than Mohamed Salah.
The former frontman was thought to have the potential to scale such heights.
He enjoyed a productive career in Europe, representing the likes of Midtylland, Mainz, Hamburg and Dortmund.
Zidan also took in 44 appearances for his country and was often the go-to man for the Pharaohs.
Salah now shoulders that responsibility, having become a global star while on the books at Liverpool, but was not always held in such high regard.
Klopp is benefitting from his considerable talent at present, but he was also a big fan of another Egyptian during his days in charge of Dortmund.
Zidan told ON Sport: “Klopp told me that I was better than Salah 100 hundred times but I needed to be more professional.
“Klopp said to me that I have a great talent and skills but I need to concentrate more. If I did this I could be one of the best players in the world”.