Mohamed Salah is now being hailed for his selflessness rather than selfishness

Liverpool striker, who was known for relentless hunger for goals, has become one of Premier League’s finest creators as he matures

They say the older a striker gets, the deeper he ends up playing. Mohamed Salah may be taking it to the extreme by demonstrating he can be one of the Premier League’s top defenders.
“I said to Trent [Alexander-Arnold], you have some competition now because I saw [against Chelsea] that Mo can play as a right full-back as well,” remarked Liverpool manager Arne Slot after Sunday’s win at Anfield.
“The defensive effort he put in to help the team in that part is what pleased me just as much as his goal and assist.”
Slot was obviously joking about a radical positional shift, his observation about the work rate of his lead forward intended to stress how Salah, 32, is leading by example at both ends of the pitch.
After crossing for Curtis Jones’s winner, Salah’s second most significant assist on Sunday was to Joe Gomez, tracking Pedro Neto in the closing stages in an effort symptomatic of a more refined balance between attack and defence. That was always apparent during Jürgen Klopp’s most successful periods – ‘defending from the front’ was compulsory and Salah has always covered the yards off the ball as well as with it – but there has been no let-up under Slot.
Securing the points in front of the Kop 👊 #LIVCHE pic.twitter.com/kdSOkp3Yfp
The Egyptian’s game has evolved in tandem with a team which, when he signed in 2017, was all about Klopp’s red arrows blitzing the opposition and the feisty internal competition with Sadio Mané to top the goal charts.
It feels like a different era to when Mané infamously stormed off the pitch against Burnley, distraught that his team-mate had failed to pass to extend a comfortable 3-0 win at Turf Moor in 2019.
The pair swiftly brushed off the spat, but there were countless occasions when Salah was accused of believing an assist was the third option, with plan A being to shoot and plan B being to repeat plan A.
Not any more. Before turning 30, Salah averaged an assist every 324 minutes in the Premier League. That has been cut by 82 minutes since, to 242, Salah now being hailed for his selflessness rather than accused of selfishness.
Much of this has been due to tactical necessity, with the departure of Roberto Firmino two years ago and the arrival of No 9s like Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota who prefer to be fed chances rather than sacrifice themselves to facilitate the wide attackers.
Mostly, Salah’s role is the inevitable consequence of the maturity of a senior player who recognises his leadership role. There are echoes of Harry Kane realising he can no longer rely on playing on the shoulder of the last defender, the strength, conditioning and all-round nous creating a more rounded player, while the lethal finishing prowess remains.
Logic suggests the Egyptian should be slowing down in his thirties, the rapid pace which typified the first part of his Liverpool career sure to be compromised with age. Signs of wear and tear are barely noticeable, however.
Salah’s minutes-per-goal ratio has slightly increased over the last two years, although his greater likelihood of supplying the final pass means his overall goal involvements are in the same ballpark they have always been. 
There has been no significant change in Salah’s number of goal attempts or touches in the opposition penalty area per game, but Salah is creating more chances and attempting fewer dribbles – thus retaining possession more than he did. Salah’s rate of long passes has also increased, another sign that he is hunting team-mates more regularly from wider or deeper positions.
Most important for Slot and those wondering how long one of Liverpool’s greatest players can maintain elite levels, the all-important ‘eye test’ demonstrates that no striker in the country is working harder while being as productive as Salah.
Salah is joint-third in the goal charts, joint-second in the assist charts and has had more touches than any wide striker in the Premier League this season. Only Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka has a similar profile as an attacker who is involved in all facets of a game. 
Salah has already notched up more milestones than a serial marathon runner during his seven years at Anfield. More are on the horizon in Leipzig on Wednesday night.
He is just two goals away from a 50th in Europe for Liverpool, and three from a century of away strikes when taking in all competitions.
Should he start in the Red Bull Arena against Leipzig, he will trail just Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher when it comes to Liverpool appearances in Uefa’s premier club competition.
We are witnessing a legend still at the top of his game, and the number crunchers tasked with establishing Salah’s current value in the midst of lengthy transfer negotiations must be pounding the calculators after every match day. 
Whatever they believe his worth will be at the end of the next two-year contract cycle, his contribution so far is as close to priceless as conceivable in modern football.