Salah has been one of the key players in Fiorentina's challenge for a Europa League qualification place in Serie A and their run to the last four of the competition this season. But if he had not burst into tears as a 16-year-old his career might never have taken off.
As Salah and his team-mates prepare for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against holders Sevilla, three coaches have spoken to Goal about Salah's formative years at his first club in Egypt, Al-Mokawloon, while his cousin Hamed Ghaly told us about his fame and early life in his home village.
Salah joined Al-Mokawloon (known in Europe as Arab Contractors) aged 11 and as soon as he started "his talent spoke for itself", according to Hamdi Nooh, the head of the club’s academy.
He was already well known for his prowess at his home in Negreeg, north of Cairo in the Gharbia governate. "Everyone in the village was expecting a great future for him as he showed real talent when he was very young," Ghaly told Goal. "The village became famous because of him.
"He started from zero and his family helped him a lot. He always dreamed of playing in Europe, even before Al-Mokawloon. He followed the English Premier League but his favourite players were Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo."
There was a lot of tough competition to get into the junior teams at Al-Mokawloon, and at first Salah played as a left-back or wing-back, often in the 3-5-2 formation that the national team achieved success with. The story of the moment that made such a difference was told by Said Al Shesheni, who coached Salah in the under-16s and under-17s.
"We had a very tough away match against strong opponents, ENPPI, and we had a fantastic result, winning 4-0," he recalled. "We were all celebrating except Mohamed, who was crying because he had not scored a goal in this historic victory.
"That made me realise the strength of his passion for scoring goals. He was struggling to cover the long distance between his position, left-back, and the opponents' goal.
"I think this moment was the turning point of Mohamed Salah's career, because I sat with him after the match and told him that I was going to change his position to use his outstanding speed and his passion for scoring. It was a great moment because, after moving forward, he managed to score 35 goals in one season with the under-16 and under-17 teams."
Salah then moved up to the first team, where he was coached by Mohamed Abdelaziz, known as 'Zizo', the former under-14s coach who was now an assistant for the senior side.
"Salah was a very disciplined player, always on time for training," Zizo told Goal. "Coach Mohamed Radwan and I started separate additional training for him to get the very best from his speed. In the beginning Mohamed kept the ball for too long and we tried, successfully, to change that.
"After a very successful season he became one of the important players in the team despite his young age. I sat with him and the team captain, Mohamed Al Aqabawi, and told him it was time for him to be the team's hero. I was not worried that he might get more arrogant because I know his humble personality.
"In the same meeting I advised him not to limit his ambition to just joining the local big clubs like Zamalek or Al Ahly, but to really think about playing in Europe - and he did it!"
Salah's lack of arrogance was emphasised by his cousin. "Everyone loves him here," Ghaly added. "He's loyal to his family and his hometown residents. He always keeps in contact with them and has never got arrogant with anyone.
"He remains as polite as always. He thinks step by step, and every time he reaches a new level he knows that there's more to do. Salah wants to make a real achievement for the Egyptian national team by winning the Scudetto. His ambition has no limits."
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