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Liverpool's best foreigners
Mohamed Salah struck his 42nd and 43rd goals of the season in Liverpool’s sensational Champions League victory over Roma, just days after he was named the PFA Player of the Year ahead of Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne.
The Egyptian is the new king of the Kop, but where does he rank among Liverpool’s greatest foreign imports? We list the 10 best – not including Irishmen – to have represented the Reds…
10. Roberto Firmino
Firmino’s 27 goals so far this season have silenced the sceptics who questioned whether he was good enough to be Liverpool’s starting No.9 – but it’s not just his goals that have endeared him to Klopp and the Kop.
The Brazil international makes Liverpool tick: he’s absolutely vital to the way the side plays, pressing from the front and making selfless runs to free up space for his fellow attackers. The former Hoffenheim man will continue to be a key player as Jurgen Klopp builds for a successful future.
9. Dietmar Hamann
Hamann was the man who came on at half-time to help turn the 2005 Champions League Final in Liverpool’s favour, before coolly dispatching the first penalty despite having broken his foot in extra-time.
Like many from that era, Hamann won every trophy possible with Liverpool except the Premier League title. The German midfielder was instrumental to the treble success under Gerard Houllier in 2000-01, and made almost 300 appearances during his seven years at the club.
8. Philippe Coutinho
Liverpool haven’t missed Coutinho as much as many feared when he departed for Barcelona in January, but that doesn’t alter the fact he was a brilliant player during his time at Anfield.
The Brazilian notched some huge goals for the Reds; most notably against Manchester City in 2013-14, and against both Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United in the Europa League two seasons later. He became increasingly creative as time went on too, proving he could set up goals as well as score them.
7. Xabi Alonso
Alonso’s passing mesmerised Anfield across 210 appearances from 2004 to 2009, though he could have left as early as 2008 when Rafael Benitez curiously tried to replace him with Gareth Barry.
Alonso stayed put, however, and most Kopites still can’t quite fathom how that 2008-09 side didn’t win the Premier League title. The Spaniard wasn’t only a wonderful footballer, but he also seemed to grasp what it meant to play for the club and the city of Liverpool. Few men are as universally popular in the red half of Merseyside.
6. Fernando Torres
The man who made the Kop bounce – literally. Those in attendance at the Reds’ 2007-08 Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal swear the Kop was shaking as they jumped around to the song that half of England soon copied.
“Bounce in a minute” was all it needed. Liverpool fans were in love with Torres, and his move to Chelsea in 2011 broke many hearts. Overall, the current Atletico Madrid sharp-shooter netted 81 goals in 142 appearances for Liverpool, and could have been much higher on this list if things had worked out differently.
5. Bruce Grobbelaar
A Zimbabwean born in South Africa, Liverpool’s eccentric goalkeeper of the 1980s won it all with the Reds. Grobbelaar spent 13 glorious years at Anfield having arrived to little fanfare in 1981, following a stint with the Vancouver Whitecaps and loan spell at Crewe. He played 628 times for Liverpool thereafter, and wasn’t ousted until David James came along in 1992.
By the end he'd won six league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups, and – most memorably – the 1984 European Cup thanks to his ‘spaghetti legs’ in the penalty shoot-out against Roma.
4. Jan Molby
The Great Dane was the original pass master, two decades before Xabi Alonso arrived on the scene. He once scored a hat-trick of penalties against Coventry, and netted 42 times from the spot overall.
Some say he also scored the best goal ever seen at Anfield, against Manchester United in 1985; that it was lost due to a TV rights dispute perhaps made it even more impressive in the minds of those who were there. Molby won two First Division titles and two FA Cups during his 12 years at Anfield.
3. Sami Hyypia
After Gerard Houllier’s botched attempt at a defensive overhaul in summer 1998, Hyypia was snapped up for just £2.6m from Dutch outfit Willem II a year later.
A decade and 464 appearances later, the giant Finn had achieved heroic status. He was a first-team regular from the beginning, and later became a key figure in Liverpool’s Treble success of 2001 and Champions League victory in 2005. In the latter competition, his early volley in the Reds’ quarter-final first leg against Juventus set them on their way to a 2-1 aggregate triumph.
2. Mohamed Salah
A Champions League winner’s medal would perhaps lift Salah into top spot, but in the meantime the 25-year-old must help Liverpool overcome his former club Roma in the semi-finals.
Either way, his debut season in at Anfield has been nothing short of sensational. Salah has already equalled the 38-game record for Premier League goals, and set a new one for individual league matches scored in – 23 so far, adding two to the previous figure achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo (2007-08) and Robin van Persie (2012-13).
1. Luis Suarez
The Kop, and red away ends up and down the country, just couldn’t get enough of Suarez. His infectious winning mentality – and 31 goals – almost helped Liverpool to an unlikely league title in 2013-14, but ultimately the Uruguayan left with only a League Cup winner’s medal.
Suarez should have won more, but it didn’t work out that way. His performance against Norwich at Anfield in December 2013, when he scored four goals and assisted another, left supporters at Anfield simply laughing in disbelief at what they were witnessing.
