Michail Antonio has claimed that Son Heung-Min is currently the best player in the Premier League, not Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Speaking on The Footballer’s Football Podcast, Antonio said that the Tottenham Hotspur forward is even better than Salah.
“I’ve been saying this for the last couple of the years that Son is the best player in the Premier League. If he was at one of the top two teams I couldn’t even tell how many goals he’d probably get,” said the West Ham United man.
“He’s done it for the last two or three years, and I played against him and the things that he’s done in games, like running past four or five men and finishing. It’s actually frightening how good he is.
“That’s one thing I’ve always said, I’ve said it for the last few years, everyone was saying how quality Mo Salah is but the thing is.. Salah is a joke, I’m not taking it away from him. But for an attacking player, I give it to Son. He’s got it all.”
Antonio said that whilst he respects what Salah has done for Liverpool, he would still pick the South Korean ahead of him.
“Salah is obviously an absolute joke,” he said. “For him to be on 100, he has not really been in the Premier League for long. What he has done is a massive achievement and he is absolutely quality. You can’t take it away from him. But if I had to pick one person it would be Son and then I would pick Mo Salah behind as an attacking player.”
Each to their own I guess!
Salah setting the standards
Antonio is absolutely right to highlight the quality of the Spurs man. Son has been exceptional pretty much since arriving in the Premier League in 2015.
To finish the season as joint-winner of the Golden Boot with Salah is a great achievement. The 29-year-old also did it without scoring a single penalty – just as Sadio Mane did in 2019.
That’s impressive, no doubt, But better than Salah? With his goal against Wolves on Sunday, Mo secured his third Golden Boot in just five seasons.
It’s true that two of those have been shared, but no-one has scored more than him in three different Premier League seasons. If that wasn’t enough already, he also claimed the Playmaker Award for most assists.
Not Mo’s first rodeo
In the two where he didn’t come out on top, Salah wasn’t far off either. In Liverpool’s title winning campaign of 2019/20, Salah scored 19 goals. Only four players scored more.
Then, last season, he finished just one goal shy of eventual winner Harry Kane. In fact, Kane is one of only four players who can match Salah’s Golden Boot haul in Premier League history.
That it has taken Kane 10 seasons to win three awards, and Salah just five, adds some interesting colour.
Only one player – Thierry Henry – has secured the award more times than Mo. It took Henry eight seasons to claim four awards. Providing he stays for three more seasons, Salah could easily match or better that in the years to come.
So yes, Son is an incredible player and a worthy joint-winner with Liverpool’s Egyptian King – Mo even said as much himself.
But when it comes to Premier League goal-scorers, there’s only one man who rules the roost.