Mohamed Salah has been awarded Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers Association for the third time on Thursday evening, recognising his outstanding contribution to Liverpool's Premier League triumph.
The Egyptian forward received the prestigious accolade at the Landmark Hotel, becoming only the second player to win the award three times, along with Thierry Henry.
Salah, who previously won in 2018 and 2022, expressed his delight at the recognition: "It means a lot to win this award.
"It is incredible to see the names and it is so special. I am here because we have won the Premier League and I have had that impact on the team."
Mohamed Salah was presented the FWA Footballer of the Year award on Thursday evening
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Salah now has his sights set on making Premier League history in Liverpool's final home game against Crystal Palace.
The Egyptian forward needs just two goal involvements to surpass the record of 47 currently held jointly by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.
Whilst Salah already holds the best tally for a 38-game campaign, Cole and Shearer's remarkable figures were set during 42-game seasons.
Cole achieved his total in 1993-94, with Shearer matching it 12 months later when leading Blackburn Rovers to the title.
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Alan Shearer also won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1994, winning the Premier League the following year
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Few would bet against Salah reaching the milestone on the day Liverpool will receive the Premier League trophy at Anfield, in a game that was controversially chosen for Sky Sports coverage.
The forward has been in scintillating form throughout this season. He surpassed Sergio Aguero's goal tally to take him to sixth in the all-time Premier League goalscorers, making him the highest active player and the most by an overseas payer.
Additionally, Salah now has more goals at Anfield than Wayne Rooney scored at Old Trafford, and also broke Wazza's record for the most amount of times he has scored and assisted in the same game - he has since done this another five times.
Reflecting on Liverpool's Premier League victory and his sublime season, the 32-year-old revealed the immense joy he felt when they secured the title against Tottenham.
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"The day we won it honestly, I have never felt that happy and the celebrations when we won it were amazing."
Salah has won the Premier League with Liverpool before, in the 2019/20 season under Jurgen Klopp, however the team were unable to celebrate with supporters due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning this was the first time they could share the moment with fans.
The Egyptian admitted he had doubts at the start of the season following significant changes at the club. "I wondered at the start of the season how we would do it.
"A good manager and great players had left and I wondered whether we would be able to do it again."
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Mohammed Salah along with fellow winner Alessia Russo
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However, those concerns were quickly dispelled. He explained: "We have got a good group of players and a very good manager. We started the season well and we took it on to win the Premier League again.”
He did, however, acknowledge his personal ambition: "But I do want to get the most goals and assists!"
Looking to the future, Salah expressed his desire to remain at Liverpool and add to his trophy collection: "I hope I can be here again next season.
"I want to win the Premier League one more time and the Champions League again."
The Egyptian also shared a light-hearted exchange with Ian Rush, who presented the award, regarding the Welshman's all-time Liverpool scoring record of 346 goals.
Salah joked: "I said to this guy 'were you playing football when it was five against five or six versus six?'"
Despite some speculation that Rush's record might come under threat, Salah was quick to pay tribute to the Welshman's achievement.
"What he did was amazing. I think his record will be there forever."
The night also saw Alessia Russo pick up the FWA Women's Footballer of the Year.
This campaign, the 26-year-old lead Arsenal through a terrific Champions League campaign that sees them face of against current Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmati's Barcelona in the final on Saturday afternoon.
Russo, who also won the golden boot, said: "I feel really proud to win this award, for me and all my family. It feels really special, I'm part of an amazing team at Arsenal and England, and I'm around amazing people every day."
