In 2022, five players from Liverpool were among the finalists for the Ballon d’Or. If you consider Sadio Mané, who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal and scored 23 goals for the Reds before leaving for Bayern Munich in the summer, that number jumps to six.
Mané finished second behind Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, although he very well might have won the award had the Champions League final gone in the other way. Mohamed Salah also made the top five. Furthermore, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk, Luis Diaz, and Trent Alexander-Arnold all made the cut, coming in at positions 14–22.
A year later, though, Salah is the only player from Liverpool to make the cut to the final 30. Even though the Reds’ fall to fifth place in the Premier League standings was shocking, their devastating 6-2 aggregate loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 wasn’t.
It’s odd, yet in a way it makes sense; Salah is always there. While several great players have put up similar performances, the Egyptian’s consistency since his 2017 transfer to Anfield has been unmatched. That’s what really sets him apart from the others.
Salah, with Benzema, Kylian Mbappé of Paris Saint-Germain, and Kevin de Bruyne of Manchester City, is one of only four players to have been nominated for each of the previous five Ballon D’Or awards (it wasn’t given out in 2020 in the middle of the epidemic).
Even the best player of all time, Lionel Messi, doesn’t make the cut. This year, Messi seems like a lock to win the trophy after guiding Argentina to the World Cup, but he wasn’t even nominated a year ago after scoring only six league goals for PSG in a subpar season.
Also, Cristiano Ronaldo’s nomination run, which began in 2003 and ended when he left Manchester United and joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr last year, was broken.
Although Ronaldo and Messi have been playing for considerably longer than Salah, the Egyptian’s 31 years nevertheless make his accomplishments impressive.
Despite the ups and downs of Liverpool’s fortunes over the last five years, he has consistently achieved world-class heights, with his lowest goal total in a single season standing at an amazing 23. While the Reds’ other stars, including some of those already listed, saw significant declines, he scored 31 goals in 2020/21 and another 30 goals in 2018/19.
Salah continues to show no signs of slowing down. He now has the greatest active streak in the Premier League, having scored or assisted in 10 consecutive matches, surpassing his previous 15-game run from August to December of 2021. Despite heavy interest from Saudi Arabia, he is strengthening his case for a new deal with Liverpool.
Saudi Pro League executives feel it’s an issue of ‘when, not if’ Salah makes the move to the Gulf country (via The Athletic), despite Al-Ittihad’s failed $187 million (£150m/€175m) deal to capture Salah this summer.
The Reds shouldn’t just accept that this is Salah’s farewell tour and wait for him to go for good next year. Instead, it should aim to re-sign the winger to a new contract and reject offers from the Pro League, which will see him as a free agent once his current term ends in 2025.
Given Salah’s athleticism and footballing genius, he likely still has a few years of superstardom ahead of him, so Liverpool should do all in its power to keep him.