Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has few equals when it comes to the impact he made at Anfield. With that in mind, a failure to earn minutes in the same team as the Egyptian shouldn't be used as a defining factor in an assessment of other former Reds' quality.
That's certainly how Dominic Solanke may want to reflect on his brief spell on Merseyside. The striker joined in the same transfer window as Salah after coming through the ranks at Chelsea but would end up playing just 27 Liverpool games before leaving for Bournemouth in January 2019.
As Salah prepares to call time on his Liverpool career at the end of this season, it's clear it would have taken a very special player to hold his own in the same side. Solanke might not have been at that level as a youngster - he was still a teenager when he moved to Merseyside - but he has since demonstrated he has plenty to offer at a high level.
“It feels amazing and everyone has made me feel welcome already," Solanke said upon joining the Reds in July 2017, the same month in which Salah arrived from Roma. “Even just pulling on the training top, I was over the moon. Hopefully I can put on the shirt in the near future and make some good history here.”
The striker didn't have to wait too long for his debut. After making his first competitive outing as a substitute against Hoffenheim in a Champions League qualifier, he got his first Premier League minutes in a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Unfortunately for Solanke, there was no immediate path to regular first-team minutes. The Reds' devastating front three of Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane were supported by the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Divock Origi, with their new English striker managing just one league goal in a 4-0 victory over Brighton on the final day of the 2017/18 season.
Notably, then-manager Jurgen Klopp went with a 4-2-4 set-up on that occasion. Salah might not have been the man who directly blocked Solanke's route but he convinced Klopp to go with a preferred three-up-front approach that was always going to make it hard for the youngster to get into a rhythm of regular football.
To begin with, Solanke's form at Bournemouth made it look as though Liverpool had done sterling work earning £19million for him. He scored just three league goals as the Cherries were relegated in 2019/20 and - after two more impressive second-tier campaigns - ended up with six the next time he played Premier League football.
That changed when Andoni Iraola took over as manager, though. Solanke scored 19 league goals - only three players managed more - to help Iraola's side finish comfortably in mid-table and prompt Tottenham to make a bid worth up to £65m including add-ons.
Things have been more up-and-down for the striker in North London. His goals in Europe, including one in each leg of the semi-final, helped Spurs win the Europa League and return to European football's top table - only for injury to keep him out of the first six league phase matches in the Champions League.
Solanke has yet to reach 1,000 minutes on the pitch this season after ankle surgery but scored in each of his three Champions League appearances. He also delivered a famous brace in a 2-2 draw with Manchester City and earned a first ever England start against Uruguay, more than eight years since he got his first international minutes while on Liverpool's books.
His next target is a place in England's World Cup squad. "[It's] the last camp before the US and the last chance also, for me, to get to know new players and to learn about new players," manager Thomas Tuchel said.
Some senior players got a rest for the Uruguay game only to be brought into the fold for a second friendly against Japan. If he's able to take his chance on Tuesday, Solanke will show how much has changed since those early days at Liverpool.
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