Mohamed Salah’s remarkable exploits at Liverpool have him in Ballon d’Or contention alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, says Dejan Lovren.
The Egypt international has maintained a stunning level of consistency throughout a debut campaign at Anfield, with his goal return taken to 43 during a midweek Champions League clash with Roma .
Salah ran his former club ragged in a semi-final encounter on Merseyside, netting twice and providing two assists in a comprehensive 5-2 win.
Plaudits have continued to rain down on the 25-year-old in the wake of another star showing, with club colleague Lovren the latest to suggest that the most prestigious of personal accolades could soon be heading Salah’s way .
The Croatian defender told reporters after witnessing a talismanic performance against Roma: “He is the one. He is becoming the superstar. It looks easy what he does but it is very difficult.
“If he continues like that – I don’t know if this is the right time to put pressure on him – but I believe he should be regarded as one of the best three in the world at the end of the year.
“He deserves to be mentioned for the Ballon d’Or – when people talk about Messi and Ronaldo they should also talk about Salah.
“He deserves the credit but I think he deserves even more to be honest. Forty-three goals guys, f*****g hell.”
With Salah leading from the front once more, Liverpool now have one foot in the Champions League final .
A sixth European crown could soon be within reach, with Lovren admitting that the Reds players are enjoying an exciting brand of football this season as much as those in the stands.
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He added after another goal-laden evening at Anfield: “To be honest you feel powerful, you feel strong when you look around and see the players next to you.
“We have big names, we don’t maybe have lots of ‘superstars’ but it is not about the name, it is how we perform on the pitch.
“You know how we will react when we don’t have the ball and then we will not be afraid of anything else.
“You can see the system working, definitely. Every training session, every game we feel we are more comfortable and more confident.
“We just need to learn from our previous mistakes, we have to be more controlling of the game, that is where we need to improve, but I am pretty confident for the next leg.”