Thieves wearing masks of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah caught by Egyptian police

The four men were arrested in Cairo, where Mohamed Salah is a huge celebrity, after using the Liverpool attacker's face as a disguise to rob stores during the coronavirus lockdown

Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2020 by Dailystar.co.uk

Four men have been arrested in Cairo after using masks depicting Liverpool star Mohamed Salah as a disguise to rob stores.

The gang of armed thieves were caught by police while attempting to rob a store on Hassanein Heikal Street, in the Nasr City neighbourhood of Egypt’s capital.

All four of the robbers covered their face using masks of the Liverpool attacker, who is a huge star in his home country.

The gang tried to escape after being approached by security forces but were eventually apprehended.

Salah has become one of the world's most sought after players since joining Liverpool from Roma in 2017.

The criminals were caught after using the Salah disguises on a robbery spree in Cairo

The star was subject of interest from Real Madrid during his first season at Anfield, according to Egypt's assistant coach Hany Ramzy.

The interest was said to have been months ahead of the two club’s meeting in that season’s Champions League final - concluding a campaign where the Egyptian netted a remarkable 44 goals.

“When I was working with Hector Cuper, we had a training camp in Switzerland [in March 2018],” Ramzy told OnTime Sportsvia Goal, via the Echo.

“I was talking to Salah and he told me that Real Madrid had sent him an offer.

“The offer was really good, but Salah discussed it with me and Mr Cuper, and he decided to stay with Liverpool because he was comfortable there.”

Salah himself recently laughed off suggestions he could be on his way out of Anfield.

Responding to an Instagram post from Sky Sports asking fans ‘Keep or Sell?’ regarding Salah, he simply replied with three laughing emojis in the comments.

Agent Abbas noted his displeasure on Twitter, with statistics underlining Salah’s importance to Liverpool.

“In 2018/2019, Salah was the team’s top scorer in both the Premier League, and the Champions League," Abbas tweeted.

"This season, Salah is the team’s top scorer in both the Premier League, and the Champions League," he continued. "Since joining Liverpool in 2017, Salah has missed out on zero Golden Boots, and he's not a CF.”