Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has confirmed that he only claimed the role of Reds penalty taker as he attempted to snatch the Golden Boot out of the clutches of Tottenham's Harry Kane.
The Egyptian regularly claims responsibility from the penalty spot for the Merseyside outfit. He has taken a total of 27 penalties since his arrival at Anfield - Salah's most recent effort against Rangers in October finding the back of the net.
The 30-year-old has only missed three out of those spot-kicks for Liverpool. However, he might never have stepped up to the spot had he not been in the fight for the Premier League Golden Boot alongside Kane during the 2017/18 campaign.
Speaking to Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard, Salah said: "I think when I came I wasn't in the first one, two, three, four [penalty takers]. I don't know.
"Then there was a game at Huddersfield [in January 2018] and [Harry] Kane was scoring 21, 22 [goals]. Something like this. There was only one difference [between Kane and Salah]. Then Milner was in the game and I wasn't really aware of everything going on. I was like 'Okay. I'm going to take it', I asked him nicely.
"A few players came to me and I said 'guys, I need to take it. I need to score. We're already [two] goals up'. And for me, there he [Milner] told me to take it. So I took and equalised with Kane and after that Milner came to me [to let me take them]."
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The decision to claim penalty-taking duties certainly paid off for Salah throughout the remainder of the campaign as his 32 league goals saw him secure the Golden Boot ahead of Kane - the Tottenham star finishing on a total of 30 strikes.
He then reclaimed the award during the following season with 22 goals before being named as the Premier League’s top scorer last term with another 23 strikes. Despite his success from the spot, Salah has actually suggested that he does not actually relish the opportunity of taking a penalty.
"I always hate pens. I don't like the feeling," he added.
Gerrard noted that Salah's unquenchable thirst to find the back of the net is a common theme among Reds' icons and penalty-taking duties. He said: "I know how centre forwards work, I've had close relationships with Michael Owen, Fowler, Torres, Suarez.
"They want to be the No.1 striker in the league, the top scorer, so if you're on the penalties it obviously gives you a bigger chance. Torres didn't like to take them [penalties] because he had some bad experiences at his previous clubs so he never really wanted to take them.
"Whereas Suarez, I knew whenever I used to take them Suarez's head would be messed [up] and it would work because he would work even harder to score in open play."
