Former Premier League Striker Troy Deeney Says Liverpool Star Mohamed Salah Is ‘Not World Class’
Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney believes Mohamed Salah is 'not world class' and would not want his children to play like the Liverpool forward in the future.
Salah is regarded as one of the best forwards in the world following his impressive goal-scoring exploits since moving to Anfield from Serie A side AS Roma in the summer of 2017. He has scored 221 goals and provided 99 assists in 366 games in all competitions.
The 32-year-old became the first player in Europe's leading leagues to register 10 goals and 10 assists in just 17 games across all competitions as Arne Slot's Reds lead both the Premier League and Champions League tables.
Liverpool have moved five points clear at the league standings following last weekend's 2-0 win over Aston Villa. The Reds have also advanced to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and will take on Southampton next month.
Salah had 39 goals involvement in 44 appearances for Liverpool last season, however, he did not make the shortlist for this year's Ballon d'Or which was won by Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri.
Despite Salah's consistent contribution to Liverpool, former Watford captain Deeney does not think the Egypt international is among the best players in the world.
Deeney said: “I think Mohamed Salah is excellent, he’s a pivotal part for Liverpool and they should never have let it [his expiring contract] get to this situation.
"But I understand that there’s a financial structure around what they want to try and keep to.
"My argument has always been that I just don’t think he’s world class.
"But world class is just a different opinion, what I think of world class is would I want my kids to play like that player? That's what I think is world class.
“If I was asking my kids who want to be forwards, I would be saying I would like them to look at what Vinicius Jr does as opposed to Mohamed Salah.
"But his goals that he [Salah] scores, he scores an unbelievable amount of goals, he's highly effective, but that’s just my opinion.
"He's probably going to turn around and say, 'Who the f*** is Troy?,' and fair play to him, but that's my opinion."
LFC Transfer Room Football Correspondent. Covered the fortunes of Liverpool for the past three years. Follow Joseph on X (formerly Twitter) @joseph_agbobli