Jurgen Klopp remaining on terra firma here.
Mother of God, Mo Salah is having a cracking season.
Chelsea supporters must be asking how their club allowed Salah to leave for just €15m back in 2016 after the Egyptian registered his 42nd and 43rd goals of the season – and his 12th and 13th assists – against Roma.
The 25-year-old, who claimed the PFA Player of the Year award on Sunday, tore Roma to shreds in Liverpool’s 5-2 Champions League semi-final first leg victory.
Salah’s second goal took him to 43 for the season, quite the feat for a player who does not take penalty kicks and spends long tracts of matches out on the wing. It also took him beyond Cristiano Ronaldo [42] for goals scored from players from Europe’s top five leagues.
His scintillating performance, and his form over the season, has led to inevitable declarations that he is the best player in world football right now.
https://twitter.com/yaniu8/status/988885275685277696
Perhaps former Tottenham and France midfielder David Ginola captured it best when, on talkSport, he declared Salah was the best player on the planet right now. Right now. Wednesday, April 25th 2018. And he was not bad the night before either.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp raved about Salah after his side’s vibrant victory. He commented:
“He has a massive impact on that, of course. I like the other boys as well, of course. The first goal is just a genius strike; he scored already a few like this – that makes it even more special. It makes it clear it is no coincidence. The second goal was brilliant play. Bobby [Firmino] between the lines, turns, makes that run and passes the ball. Salah is quite cool in the moment, that’s true. Then he makes the other two goals.
“If anybody wants to say that it was my mistake that we conceded two goals because I changed the striker, I have no problem with that… It would not have helped us, to be honest, if he got any injury. That was the reason for that. That’s it. What a player.”
Klopp was then asked if Salah was the best player in the world at present.
His response would surely satisfy most football fans:
“If you think he’s the best in the world, write it or say it. He is in outstandingly good shape, in world-class shape, 100%. That’s good.
“To be the best in the world you need to do that over a longer period, I think. There are a few others who are not too bad. He is a fantastic player and I’m really happy to have him.”
Many will claim that Salah will need to produce similar, stellar returns over the next couple of seasons to be truly considered one of the best – alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi – but there are no arguments that he deserves to be in the conversation for world’s best.
