Premier League star Salah's secret: A top‑ranked chess player

Mohamed Salah is renowned as one of the finest footballers in the history of the English Premier League. Notably, the star player from Liverpool recently disclosed his non-sporting passion during an interview with Sky Sports, referring to it as an addiction. This revelation might surprise many of his fans.

Mohamed Salah is unquestionably the shining star of Liverpool. The 31-year-old Egyptian continues to have a remarkable season playing for "The Reds" team. So far, in his 18appearances, he has scored an impressive 12 goals and assisted five further goals.

In a high-profile interview with Sky Sports, the Egyptian forward shared more about his personal life. One of the most talented football players in the world openly admitted that his life isn't wholly soccer-centric, with his other great passion being chess. Salah indulges in this brain game almost daily using the popular platform, Chess.com.

Moreover, during this conversation, it was disclosed that Salah is not just a casual chess player, but a skilled one at that. On the referenced platform, he has obtained a rating of 1400, which places him within the top 6% of Chess.com players. The Egyptian forward, playing under the pseudonym mosalah25, has participated in more than 5600 matches thus far.

In the same interview with Sky Sports, Salah disclosed who he looks up to in the world of chess. The Egyptian mentioned the legendary Magnus Carlsen as his chess idol.

"I'm addicted to chess. Nobody can rival Magnus Carlsen, but I hope to play against him someday," Salah said during the interview with Sky Sports.

The conversation with Salah created quite a buzz, and his admiration for Carlsen reached the chess legend himself. Carlsen, taken aback by the Liverpool player's words, responded to the confession on his X service account. He posted a short message, involving a waving hand emoji and tagging Salah's profile – a seemingly delightful invitation for a chess match.

In the recent Sunday game that concluded in a 1:1 draw with Manchester City, Mohamed Salah provided an assist. Currently, Liverpool stands at the third position in the Premier League, just two points behind the leading team, Arsenal London.