Mohamed Salah’s blistering start to the 2024/25 season continued as Liverpool battered a hapless Manchester United 3-0 prior to the international break. The Egyptian winger will return from the international break hoping to continue his good form.
Yet amid these goals and assists, fans have picked up on something rather unusual – Salah’s apparent fondness for going barefoot.
Whether it’s during interviews, around club facilities, or even on opposition grounds, Salah’s ‘no shoe’ moments have become a quirky talking point, sparking curiosity among supporters.
It’s not recently that this habit has caught the eys of fans, Salah has been going barefoot for quite sometime and fans have picked up on this everytime he’s caught on camera doing so.
It started off innocuously enough, with a few interviews here and there where Salah appeared in his usual training kit but with no shoes on, only his socks.
Most might have brushed this off as a one-off instance, but then it happened again, and again.
Salah this season showing up to interviews without shoes on. Legend behavior 😂 pic.twitter.com/3hEaSHrv0q
Indoors, while chatting away comfortably, the absence of footwear might not seem too strange—after all, who doesn’t want to kick back and relax? But what caught the fans’ attention was that Salah wasn’t just ditching his shoes indoors; he was doing it everywhere.
One instance that raised eyebrows was at Old Trafford. Fresh off an interview for Sky Sports’ Super Sunday, Salah was seen walking along the sidelines in his socks, seemingly unfazed by his surroundings.
A staff member, likely concerned for his comfort, suggested he put on some shoes, to which Salah, with a light-hearted chuckle, simply said, “no, it’s fine,” and carried on.
Outdoors, at one of Liverpool’s biggest rival grounds, and Salah remained as casual as ever—barefoot, as if it were just another day at home.
And then there’s footage of the same elsewhere, from Liverpool’s training center, where Salah was spotted walking alongside Virgil van Dijk, again without shoes, as they made their way around the facilities.
Whether it’s heading to the gym or relaxing after a session, Salah seems perfectly content letting his feet roam free.
For a player like Salah, extremely disciplined whether it comes to his fitness or his routine, we have started wondering whether being barefoot for a certain number of hours a day is also routine for the winger.
Could there be a cultural element to Salah’s barefoot habit? In many Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, including Salah’s Egyptian roots, it’s common to remove shoes indoors out of respect.
It’s possible Salah feels so at home within Liverpool’s facilities that he applies this cultural norm even in professional environments. Anfield, Melwood, and the team’s training center may feel like second homes to him, where slipping out of his shoes is just second nature.
But what about when he’s outdoors, like the incident at Old Trafford? It’s not exactly his home ground, yet the no shoe policy persisted. We can’t pinpoint to a reason, but a rather hilarious one would be Salah considers Old Trafford to be his home.
With an unbeatable record at the iconic stadium, Salah finds comfort at the Red Devils’ stadium, whether thats scoring goals or roaming around barefeet carefree.
There’s a variety of reasons to speculate on. Perhaps Salah sees his relationship with football as something more grounded, quite literally.
Maybe being barefoot is his way of staying connected to the earth, in a zen-like way that helps him find balance both mentally and physically, possibly owing to his zen yoga celebration pose at one point.
Or, it could simply be Salah’s laid-back nature shining through, as he shrugs off the small stuff—like wearing shoes—while focusing on the bigger picture: winning games and performing at his best.
Whatever the reason, Salah’s barefoot adventures have become a light-hearted talking point among fans. As long as the Egyptian king keeps firing in goals and performing for the Reds, fans likely won’t care if he’s roaming around facilities and stadiums with shoes or just in his socks.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.