The Egyptian moved to Stamford Bridge last January from FC Basel in Switzerland, enjoying a solid second half of the season, which included a maiden Chelsea goal in our 6-0 win over Arsenal.

Salah has impressed already during pre-season, with his opening goal against Vitesse Arnhem on Wednesday following a second-half strike in our 3-2 win against AFC Wimbledon.

‘I’m very happy to have scored two goals in pre-season so far, it’s always good to score but the most important thing for me is to make sure I help the team win every game,’ he tells the official Chelsea website.

‘I hope having pre-season with my team-mates will help me next season. We’ve done well so far, the training has been very good, intense and we are improving all the time.’

Salah’s religious beliefs ensure his food and fluid intake is significantly reduced during the Ramadan period, which ended recently. Now, he is back to eating and drinking regularly, and acknowledges the difference.

‘Ramadan was a bit difficult for me because we had two training sessions every day, the weather was very hot and I played in every game,’ he explains. ‘I wasn’t even able to drink water until 9.30pm.

‘Although I am used to it, it’s finished now and I can eat and drink as normal. When you train twice a day your energy levels drop by the second session, but it means a lot to me so I’m very happy and I feel good.’

Now adapted to the demands of English football, Salah is looking forward to his second season in Chelsea blue, and his targets are simple.

‘The aim is for us to win the Premier League and Champions League,’ he says. ‘It’s important for a club like Chelsea to challenge for every competition we enter and hopefully we can do that.

‘In terms of myself, I don’t usually like to set too many targets but I just want to improve as a player as much as I can and help my team-mates become successful.’