Mohamed Salah's private behaviour left Liverpool hero shocked at transfer decision

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Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed his shock following Mohamed Salah's announcement regarding his Liverpool departure. The 32-year-old assumed the Egyptian would "never stop" having seen what he was like away from the spotlight.

Salah will bring his nine-year spell at Anfield to a close when the current season concludes, having established himself as a Reds icon with numerous individual and team honours and more than 250 goals to his name.

He arrived during the summer of 2017 and in the same transfer window, Oxlade-Chamberlain joined him after departing Arsenal . The duo spent six campaigns as colleagues under boss Jurgen Klopp .

With Salah announcing his forthcoming exit in an emotional message directed at supporters and staff who have assisted him throughout his spell at Liverpool, Oxlade-Chamberlain has conveyed surprise while emphasising what distinguishes the 33-year-old as exceptional.

Speaking on In The Mixer brought to you by Sky Bet, Oxlade-Chamberlain said: "I was a bit shocked because he is the type of guy that you just think will never stop. What Mo has achieved there at Liverpool is unprecedented.

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"It is surreal to think that he's gone to heights that are just astronomical. It's Ronaldo-type numbers, but before Liverpool, he'd had a lot of setbacks. Gone to Chelsea , it didn't quite work out. He'd gone to Italy and then he comes to Liverpool and he just turned into an animal.

"But he probably thinks it's the best time for him. For our team he was just incredible. He's one of those players, I always say they're special players, where if I'm having a bad game I'm useless to everyone.

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"He could have a terrible game and score two goals and win you the game. That's special. If I'm not feeling it on the day, I'm not scoring two goals. Everything needs to be clicking. If he was having a good game or a bad game, he had a mindset and a mentality that was just elite to not get too hard on himself, doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low, always ready in the moment.

"That's a special attribute that I saw from him. And that is the only way you can produce what he produces, not to mention that he lives and breathes the game. Off the pitch, like every little stone is turned. In terms of professionals, I have never seen anyone do what Mo does every hour of the day to the point where I straight up look at him and think, 'I don't think I could do that and fair play.'

"He comes off the pitch, he's installed ice baths, ice chambers, cryo chambers in his house and red light therapy and he is from one thing to the next. He definitely doesn't play golf or anything in his free time. He ain't got time for anything else!

"The number of times I used to before training get up for a coffee, I'm seeing Mo running through a tunnel before training with his hat on, like Rocky. I'm putting my window up going, 'Mo, what are you doing?' He's like, 'I'm just loosening off before training.'

"He'll go to training, he's the first in the gym. Then he trains how he trains. He's in the gym doing treatment, therapy, whatever, doing another gym session. It is an obsession. You've got to give someone like that credit."