Mohammed Salah is currently experiencing the season of his career. With 41 goals to his name, Mo Salah is among the top five goal scorers in Europe’s top 5 leagues. He’s in the same conversations as the Cristiano Ronaldo’s and Lionel Messi’s of the world, that’s elite company.
Because of his phenomenal productivity, pundits and fans alike are now asking if the Egyptian has done enough to warrant a shock Ballon d’Or win? Let’s see.
When Liverpool completed the £36.9million signing of Mohammed Salah back in June, fans were happy but not ecstatic. 41 goals later and the 25-year-old is every fans’ favourite player. In fact, the exploits of Salah have made the figure of Philippe Coutinho a distant memory, he is now Jurgen Klopp’s talisman and arguably the best player in the Premier League.
So, what arguments can be made for Mo Salah against the kingpins Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi? Here are a few:
- First of all, it’s arguable that Mo Salah is playing in a harder league than both Messi and Ronaldo. The Premier League is perhaps the most competitive league in the world; teams are much closer regarding the quality of than in La Liga. So, in a nutshell, he is producing a similar output to his competitors but in a much much harder league.
- Secondly, Mo Salah is effectively carrying Liverpool on his own as he’s the standout player in the squad. If either Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi has a bad game, they have the likes of; Luis Suárez, Gareth Bale, Philippe Coutinho, Karim Benzema, Ousmane Dembélé & Luka Modrić alongside them to bail them out. At Anfield, Salah has to do everything on his own. You may say that he has Sadio Mane to help, but the Senegalese haven’t even scored half the amount of goals Salah has.
- Finally, Mo Salah is performing all these wondrous exploits from the right wing. Both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are given free roles in their teams; they can position their selves wherever they want to. But for Salah, he’s still restricted to the right flank, a flank where he can only do so much.
If we delve further into Mo Salah’s stats, his case for a Ballon d’Or becomes even stronger. As mentioned earlier, the 25-year-old has scored 41 goals this season, but on top of that, he’s on average created 2 chances and completed 2.3 dribbles a game.
Salah’s performances haven’t just consisted of selfish actions; the Egyptian has in that time also provided 11 assists, meaning he’s directly contributed to 48 goals this season, that’s an output most can’t replicate.
His detractors will say if Salah’s goals don’t fire the Reds to the summit of the Champions League then he’s no better than a younger Theo Walcott. Over the years, it’s been the player who’s been most successful with his club that’s won the award.
Ronaldo’s goals win trophies, Messi’s goals contribute to silverware, can the same be said about Mohammed Salah? Because at the moment, Liverpool is only in a fight for 3rd place in the Premier League.
Mohammed Salah has the ability to win the Ballon d’Or, but if he doesn’t win the Champions League, he doesn’t really stand a chance.
