Frank Leboeuf has now hit out at what has just happened to Mohamed Salah as the Liverpool forward ‘deserved better’ given his ‘crucial’ impact in the team at Anfield.
The 32-year-old is in his eighth campaign on Merseyside and Salah is already an indubitable Liverpool legend. Across his 352 appearances in red so far, the Egyptian has found the back of the net 214 times. He also has 92 assists after starting in 320 fixtures in all competitions.
All in all, Salah ranks fifth among Liverpool’s record top goalscorers of all time and will move into third place this season if the winger maintains his previous output. He has averaged 30 goals each term spent at Anfield, and Salah already has three from three games this season.
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah ‘deserved better’ than missing the Ballon d’Or shortlist
Yet despite Salah scoring 25 goals and assisting another 14 in 44 appearances last season, the Liverpool winger was snubbed for the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist. There are zero Reds on the shortlist for football’s most prestigious individual award for the first time since 2016.
It is also the first time since 2017, the year he signed for Liverpool from AS Roma, that Salah is not among the Ballon d’Or nominees. Yet 10 Premier League players made the shortlist as Arsenal (4), Manchester City (4), Aston Villa (1) and Chelsea (1) stars received global praise.
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Leboeuf is adamant that while Salah can occasionally be ‘clumsy’ with his play, the Liverpool forward ‘deserved better’ than to be snubbed entirely for the 2024 Ballon d’Or. The award is voted for by journalists from each of the top 100 countries in the FIFA men’s world rankings.
“I have to agree a little bit with that,” LeBouef told ESPN. “I think when I see Salah, I love the guy, the way he behaves first, the way he plays, of course, his football, the way he can score goals. But sometimes you can feel that it can be a little bit clumsy.
“Maybe it doesn’t go according to the standard that we see with other players. But the influence that he put down, the football in the Premier League, should have been rewarded a little bit more because he has been influential for Liverpool and he has been crucial in many, many games. He deserved better than the position that most people put him in.”
Ballon d’Or snub could fuel Mohamed Salah’s most prolific Premier League season yet
Salah can arguably point to his dip in form after sustaining a hamstring injury while playing at the Africa Cup of Nations for Egypt back in January as a reason behind the Liverpool forward failing to get onto the Ballon d’Or shortlist. He sustained a tear of the muscle against Ghana.
READ MORE: Everything to know on Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah from his wife to net worth
Before jetting off to AFCON, Salah had already scored 14 goals in 20 Premier League games. But he only added another four goals in 12 games to that tally and even fell out of the Reds’ starting XI. Jurgen Klopp benched Salah twice in April against Fulham and West Ham United.
Arne Slot is seeing a far more prolific version of Salah so far this season, though, with three goals and also three assists in three Premier League games. Failing to make the Ballon d’Or shortlist could even fuel Salah to produce one of his most prolific campaigns in red to date.
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