"We're talking Ballon d'Ors now," says former Liverpool's Sturridge on Salah

Daniel Sturridge said Mohamed Salah has done enough this season to receive Ballon d'Or shouts following his outstanding performance in Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Manchester City on Sunday at the Etihad. Salah opened the scoring and provided the assist for the second goal to fire the Reds 11 points ahead of Premier League title rivals Arsenal, who stumbled against West Ham and dented their charge.

"We're talking Ballon d'Ors now," said Sturridge in the Super Sunday panel brought to you by 'Sky Sports'. "It's getting out of hand with Mohamed Salah. We have to start putting him in that conversation, I don't even know if he's ever had a top-five vote or a top-three vote yet." The former Liverpool forward admitted that he had "no idea" how Salah's seasons have been going under the radar for so long. 

The Egyptian star has been consistent throughout his eight years at Anfield, going double figures in terms of both goals and assists in every season but one - the 2020/21 campaign where he was only able to provide six, though he did make it up by finding the target 31 times. Having entered his 30s for a while now, Salah seems to have just discovered his peak.

With his recent contributions at Etihad on Sunday, the 32-years-old has now registered over 50 G/A this term - 30 goals and 21 assists - meaning that he is only 7 goal contributions shy of matching the best season of his entire career, which was oddly enough his first with Liverpool. After leaving England, where he played for Chelsea, and spending years in Italy between Fiorentina and Roma, Salah returned to the Premier League to join Liverpool in 2017. He ended the campaign with 58 G/A - 44 goals and 14 assists.

Sturridge claimed that one of the potential reasons why Salah has been outcasted from Ballon d'Or conversations could be because he plays in the wrong league. "To be totally transparent, when you look at the history of the award it typically goes to someone playing in La Liga." The big exception from that trend is Rodri's 2024 Ballon d'Or, which is heavily explained by the absences of the mighty Messi and Ronaldo from the big five leagues.

Salah's chances to claim the prestigious prize have been heavily hampered by the Argentinian and the Portuguese's out-of-this-world performances for the past decade. However, with the duo now out of the competition, the 2024/25 campaign might be the Egypt international's best and perhaps only shot at winning the Ballon d'Or, especially with his Liverpool contract saga still going unresolved.

 

February 23, 2025