Mo Salah’s popularity has enjoyed a meteoric rise due to his exploits with Liverpool this season. The Egyptian arrived in Merseyside as a talented attacker but is now considered to be one of the best players at the moment.
He is also loved back at home, having scored a stoppage-time penalty to send the Pharaohs into the 2018 World Cup. As a result, it appears some Egyptians even want the Premier League ace to become their commander in chief.
As revealed by the Economist, the former Roma winger earned unexpected votes in the recent presidential election. This comes despite the fact that Salah was not even a candidate.
Voters back in the north African state crossed out the names of the only two candidates – Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Moussa Mustafa Moussa – to write down the Reds ace’s name instead. More than 1 million ballots were spoiled in this election, with a portion of those votes going to the Liverpool sensation.
This picture is one of the many presumed votes Salah earned in his nation's presidential election
Al-Sisi was eventually re-elected after winning 92 percent of the votes, but Salah earned a few votes despite not even being in the race. This is just a testament to his popularity in football – at both the club and the international level.
With 28 goals under his belt in the Premier League, he is the top scorer in the English top-flight this season. An additional six goals have helped Klopp’s side make the Champions League quarter-final.
