High praise, either way.
Mohamed Salah is enjoying one of the, if not the standalone, greatest Premier League debut seasons of all time.
Salah has wasted no time making Liverpool’s £34 million fee for the Egypt international look like an absolute steal and has already drawn comparisons with some of the most talented players on the planet.
The 25-year-old has already found the net on 31 occasions this season and has broken the record for most goals scored with a left foot in a single Premier League campaign.
Salah’s left foot is like a wand and it’s his talent on his favoured side which has seen him compared with Barcelona and Argentina talisman Lionel Messi.
But Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher sees Salah as much more of a Cristiano Ronaldo type and explains the similarity between the two in his Telegraph column.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is the prime example of how the role [of wide forward] has changed,” Carragher writes.
“When he joined Manchester United he liked hugging the touchline, performing his step-overs and terrorising right-backs.
“Now he is completely different player – a goalscorer more than provider. He is disappointed if he comes off the pitch and has not scored.
“He does not want to be indulging in his party tricks out wide because he cannot shoot from there, so his game is all about cutting inside and getting into the penalty area to swell those extraordinary numbers.
“That is why although there has been some comparisons made between Salah’s style and that of Lionel Messi – obviously he is not at the level of either Messi or Ronaldo yet – the Liverpool forward has more of Ronaldo’s approach about him.
“Messi likes to come deeper for the ball and involve himself in the build-up. That is not Salah’s way.
“He has the mindset of a prolific striker, as demonstrated by how disappointed he is whenever he is substituted late in a match as he craves more goals.
“It is refreshing to see.”
