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Mohamed Salah: How the 'Egyptian King' rules from the Nile to the Mersey

As Mohamed Salah goes into Saturday's Champions League final, Middle East Eye goes to Liverpool to explore his impact on the iconic English city
Mohamed Salah has emerged as a global superstar whose goals have helped carry Liverpool to Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid in Kiev (AFP)

LIVERPOOL, England - In Egypt, he is a national hero known as the "Fourth Pyramid". In Liverpool, football fans now simply call him the "Egyptian King".

In the space of a single record-breaking season, Mohamed Salah has emerged as a global superstar whose goals have helped carry Liverpool to Saturday's Champions League final against Real Madrid in Kiev, and Egypt to next month's World Cup finals in Russia.

But some see the 25-year-old's influence extending beyond the football pitch. In an era of rising Islamophobia and hate crime in the UK, Salah is also challenging prejudice and changing attitudes, with his Muslim identity celebrated in songs by Liverpool fans.

Middle East Eye went to fish and chip shops, mosques and to Liverpool's famous Anfield stadium to investigate the impact that Salah has had on a port city that has always celebrated its independent identity and openness to the world.

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