Mo Salah and Chasing the Ballon d’Or  | OneFootball

Mo Salah and the Ballon d’Or

Enduring brilliance of Mo Salah

For close to a decade, Mo Salah has been the heartbeat of Liverpool, a forward who arrived in 2017 as a whirlwind of pace and goals and has since evolved into something far richer. At 33, in the 2024/25 season, he guided Liverpool to their landmark 20th league title, topping Europe for goal involvements and adding yet another golden chapter to his Anfield story.

He has broken records, lifted trophies and redefined what it means to be a modern forward. Yet Salah has never entered the Ballon d’Or conversation as anything more than a distant contender. Sixth in 2018, fifth in 2019, fifth again in 2022 – respectable, yes, but incongruous given his impact.

Photo @LFC on X

Recognition gap in world football

The Egyptian’s exclusion is not rooted in performance. Salah has delivered year after year, marrying goals with creativity. Last season, he collected the Premier League Playmaker award with 18 assists – a sign of his tactical evolution from pure scorer to Liverpool’s creative engine.

But while others are lauded for their intelligence – Harry Kane hailed as visionary, Luka Modrić revered as an artist – Salah is too often reduced to clichés of power and directness. Language has framed him as a player to admire but not mythologise, to respect but not elevate.

Legacy beyond silverware

What makes Salah’s story remarkable is not just what he has done for Liverpool but the effect beyond the pitch. A Stanford study revealed a 19% fall in hate crimes in Merseyside after his arrival, alongside a halving of anti-Muslim sentiment among Liverpool fans online.

Few players reshape both sport and society. Salah has. That he may never claim a Ballon d’Or says less about him than it does about the structures of recognition in football. As Liverpool’s talisman continues to define eras, the question persists: what more could Mo Salah possibly do?