Mo Salah's lookalike reveals that he's replaced him in some ads

Egypt's legendary footballer Mohamed Salah runs on a pretty tight schedule given his international and regional sports commitments. Enter his doppelgänger, Ahmed Bahaa, an Egyptian engineer who's been subbing in for the Liverpool star in a couple of commercials.

The Mo Salah lookalike made the revelation during a televised interview aired on Al-Nahar TV over the weekend, surprising both the presenter and viewers.

"Salah of course can't stay for long to shoot a single ad. I would spend a couple of days [shooting] here, while they complete [filming] with him in England," Bahaa explained on how he worked on several commercials with the Liverpool forward. "This is just to speed up the process because he doesn't have a lot of time to spare." 

So what commercials did he feature in? According to him, he's been in a Vodafone and a Pepsi commercial among a few others, though he only appears in wide shots, as the BBC reported. 

During the interview, Bahaa jokingly lamented about how he always wanted to be a football player but went into engineering instead. As you'd imagine, since not everyone has the eye to differentiate between lookalikes, the electronics engineer is frequently stopped by Salah fans who want to take pictures with him. 

Bahaa - who bears an uncanny resemblance to the popular footballer - was catapulted to fame after he was spotted watching the Liverpool forward play in the semi-final of the Champions League. 

Both men ended up meeting, and it was not over before a viral selfie was snapped.

"[Mohamed Salah] was taken aback [when he saw me], he said to me he feels like he's standing in front of a mirror, but that it is he who looks like me because I am older," Bahaa said at the time. 

When it comes to his skills and his journey in the football world, Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah is unparalleled; there's no arguing that. But, the same can't be said when it comes to his looks. 

Earlier this year, a Kuwait-based Arab slaughterhouse worker who looks quite like Mo Salah went viral online. While in June, Egyptian man Ahmed Sayed Nada, a sales representative from Egypt's city of Damietta, stole the show after being spotted at Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2019. 

But in fact, a handful of lookalikes have surfaced online in the past few years thanks to the growing interest of Salah's fans. From a van passenger to a social media star, fizzy curly hair and a wide smile engulfed in a beard will get you the closest you could ever get to Salah himself.