Mohamed Salah deserves Ballon d’Or – he ranks alongside two Man Utd icons with only Thierry Henry a better Prem import
THE meaning of Salah to Muslims is ‘prayer’. And when Mo cuts in from the wing to shoot then his opposition would do well to utter one — because, as often as not, his shot results in a Liverpool goal.
He is the Premier League leaders’ most potent forward, this chap with the smart hair styling.
It wasn’t always so. This season he abandoned his wild hair but, unlike Samson, kept his strength and continues to stun defences with the precision of his shooting.
His goals have been a major part of Liverpool’s armoury for seven years now.
Wednesday’s match at Newcastle was a perfect example of his deadly left-foot skills.
He had set up Curtis Jones for their team’s sole goal in between two Newcastle strikes.
Otherwise his contribution, by his standards, could have been described as modest.
Then he struck twice, each time assisted by substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold, and also hit the bar.
The late Newcastle equaliser for 3-3 cut two points from Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table but Salah had given their challengers notice with his 14th league goal this season that he was a major obstacle.
Quite something, too, that he overtook Manchester City’s goal king, Erling Haaland.
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Not an achievement expected of a little feller on the right wing, either. Egyptian magician, I’ll say.
So how does he rank among our greatest football imports?
Unhesitatingly, I’d place Thierry Henry of France and Arsenal first, but Salah joins Cristiano Ronaldo and Eric Cantona as a contender for second.
Why he has never been placed higher than fifth in the Ballon d’Or is a surprise.
As an out-and-out winger in England only Man United’s Ryan Giggs rates near him.
Since he moved here, joining Chelsea from Basel in 2014, he’s scored 170 Premier League goals with 77 assists.
Salah headed to Roma from Stamford Bridge but Liverpool signed him in June 2017 in a £44.4million deal — then a club record.
That was a lot at the time but, as his new club suspected, it turned out to be a bargain.
At the start of this season, Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia were said to have offered £150m for him. By anyone’s standards that’s an enormous amount of money.
Jurgen Klopp regarded Salah as essential, of course, and so does his successor, Arne Slot.
Who else could provide him with such riches from the right wing in a chase for the club’s first league title since 2019-20?
It is a delicious prospect for at least half of the city. With Manchester City struggling to make an impact and Liverpool having a seven-point lead, Salah is Slot’s ace in the pack.
The club is cautious about talking contracts for Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk — and no wonder when such importance has to be attached to team togetherness.
At 32, Salah must realise that his next move could be his last chance to improve, or at least retain, his alleged £15m-a-year earnings.
The father of two girls has made it clear he would prefer to remain at Anfield.
A devout Muslim and supporter of women’s rights, he has found a new belonging among the congenial Scousers.
He is very much his own man and a man of God. As a thank-you to his maker, after he hugs his team-mates, he lies prone in the sujud position after each of his goals.
Not many of us would forgive a robber, as Salah did in Egypt. He gave him money and offered help to find him a job, rather than pressing charges for robbing his family.
That makes him special beyond any of his dozens of awards and trophies.
He has deserved every one of them — and the next Ballon d’Or.