Ahmed Salam programme article
Posted : 9th October 2021
Highly recommended by former Linfield midfielder and current Hull City manager Grant McCann, winger Ahmed Salam joined the Blues on loan in the summer, as part of a double swoop along with Billy Chadwick.
20 year-old Salam grew up in Hull but his parents are Egyptian. Speaking to ‘Look at Linfield’ for the first time, the former Egypt u18 international says he’s settled in nicely to life at Linfield.
“Everyone has welcomed Billy and I in very well. Training has been good, I just feel I need a few minutes to get up to full sharpness, but that’ll come and overall I’ve settled in just fine. Billy and I share a house together in Holywood which is nice and it isn’t too far away. It’s brilliant having someone familiar here with me in Billy. As well as being friendly with Billy, I believe he’s a brilliant player who will score goals for us this season, especially with his runs in behind.”
Salam – whose previous loan spell with Gainsborough Trinity of the English seventh division was cut short due to the pandemic – feels there’s more to come from him than what he’s shown on the pitch so far in a Linfield shirt and believes that’ll come with more game time.
“I am obviously looking more game time but I just have to stay patient and that’ll come, so now I am just keeping my head down. It’s important that, when it’s on, I am getting shots off, or creating assists for my teammates. I want to be making things happen and contributing to the team.”
His Hull City manager Grant McCann played for Linfield for a brief period in the 2014-15 season before leaving to take the Peterborough first team job. As a boyhood Blueman and a local Sandy Row man, it’s fair to say Grant knows a thing or two about Linfield and Salam says his advice was spot on.
“He (Grant) told us that the standards here were so high and when you play for Linfield, you have big expectations on you. I can already see that he was spot on with what he said. The fans are brilliant and they expect the best. You have to be on it, you have to perform every day and most importantly, at the weekend or on a Tuesday night. Every club should have high expectations and high hopes. Linfield always want to be successful and personally, I want to give back to the club for trusting in me and bringing me here.
“That culture of expectancy is healthy and I think as an individual, every day you come in, you also have to demand more from yourself to succeed. Those are the basics and then if you get more minutes on the pitch through that – certainly in my case – the aim would be to take that back to Hull and build on any success I can achieve here.”
Other than a handful of matches, Salam’s previous footballing experiences have been at various youth levels and so, he is still adapting to the physicality of the Irish League, but he believes the challenge can improve him as a footballer.
“This is a tough league to play in. It’s very physical and you have got to be quick on the ball and know what you’re doing. You need to be in good condition, both mentally and physically to succeed. This environment can help me improve because you always have to be focused and on your toes, or else you get punished and I see that as a good learning experience every game I play.
“Since I was a kid, the dream was always to play for Hull City’s first team and that is still the aim. I have always tried to learn as much as I could from them and am now learning off the manager here as well.”
Finally, the winger, who has been with Hull City since joining their Academy nine years ago aged 11, says it’s important Linfield take all three points against Carrick Rangers this afternoon, after three draws in the previous four fixtures.
Best wishes to Ahmed and the rest of the squad in today's vitally important league gains against Stuart King's in-form Carrick team