JURGEN KLOPP AGREED with suggestions Mohamed Salah could soon be considered one of the best players in the world, but the Liverpool manager feels comparisons with Lionel Messi will not help the forward.
Salah scored four times in the 5-0 win over Watford at Anfield on Saturday, taking his tally to 27 Premier League goals in a prolific first season on Merseyside.
Such has been the impact of the Egypt international upon returning to England from Roma, one reporter put it to Klopp that the former Chelsea striker, along with Barcelona star Messi, is one of the game’s top talents.
“Yes, I think Mo is on the way,” he said.
“That’s good. I don’t think Mo wants or anybody wants to be compared with Lionel Messi.
“He [Messi] is the one that is doing what he is doing for 20 years it feels like. The last player that I know who had that influence on a team performance was Diego Maradona I think, another Argentine guy.
“Mo is on a fantastic way, that’s for sure. But how it always is in life, if you have the skills, then you have to show it, constantly. And his consistency is very good for us, he helps us a lot. The boys love playing together with him.”
Quizzed about Salah earlier in his post-match news conference, Klopp said: “He gave the answer already with four goals.
“If the question is, ‘what do I think about that?’, I think that’s quite exceptional.
“Another good performance in a very difficult game, in a very impressive manner, coping and dealing with difficult conditions.
“The whole team tonight but especially around the first goal I would say Mo, because it was obviously slippery.
“Everybody suffered, but not Mo in that situation. That’s what you need to be on the highest level.”
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Ashley Youngs greatest achievement last week.
@Ciarán: getting knocked out of the champions league?
@John Farrell: nice come back John lol
Barcelona will move on Salah
@Tim Brennan: Not till after the World Cup
@thatsnotme:
It’s funny, United “fans” arguing over where a Liverpool player is going to be playing next season. Maybe he will leave, maybe he won’t. Nobody knows, apart from Salah and his agent! But the fact is, he’s a Liverpool player right now and he’s tearing up the league. So try not being so bitter and enjoy a player who is having an outstanding season.
@Brian Curtin: same as pool fans comment on every article about degea. It’s fans nature. Nobody hurt. Feel free to join in
@Teddyzigzagbigbag: and on that, I think Salah is phenomenal. Pleasure to have him in tje league this year, but he’s a long way to go to be compared to Messi which I’m sure he knows himself. If pool keep him next year they could be contenders
Utd fans
So sad
Christ lads calm down.
He’ll never be Messi. A good/great striker, maybe, but a Messi or Ronaldo? Ridiculous.
Oh mane mane
He does compare to Messi. Compared to Messi, He’s crap.
Just wants to play in same league as him
Good job
Smart move not wanting to be compared to Messi
Will Salah have to leave Liverpool for silverware? Is Salah a one season wonder? Or do those things only apply to Harry Kane and Spurs?
@AM: Kane will go to man city in the summer after he goes to Russia of course.
@robbie: I think you’ll find Liverpool are in the quarter finals of the champions league, so by my reckoning they are much closer to challenging considering this is their first season back in it for a while. And by ‘not competing with the big teams’ reference, the only team they can’t compete with is City, and that’s pretty much the case for all English teams.. Does it really hurt that much that you can’t just appreciate him as a fantastic footballer instead of the silly remarks?