‘Some people don’t know much…’ – Arsenal legend speaks the truth with emphatic Mo Salah claim | OneFootball

A legend of the Arsene Wenger era at Arsenal has proclaimed Mo Salah to be the ‘best player in the Premier League’ and decried the Egyptian’s omission from this year’s shortlist for the Ballon d’Or.

Not even the Liverpool icon’s 25 goals last season could earn him a place among the 30 nominees for the award, which went to Manchester City midfielder Rodri among a vote of 100 journalists across the world.

Robert Pires, a prominent member of the Gunners’ 2004 ‘Invincibles’, believes that the Spaniard isn’t even the best player in the English top flight, never mind the planet.

Pires sticks up for Salah

The Frenchman told MBC MASR 2 (via The Mirror): “Mohamed Salah is the best player in the Premier League. He has a fantastic mentality, and his level doesn’t surprise me because he’s one of the best players in Europe and the world.

“In Egypt, you know he’s the best in the national team, but what he does with Liverpool is truly exceptional. He’s maintained his level for many years, playing different roles, scoring goals and providing assists. Salah was treated unfairly by being left out of the Ballon d’Or list.

“It’s a loss for the list, not for Salah. This isn’t the players’ fault; it’s the journalists’ mistake. Many great players like Thierry Henry, Xavi and Andres Iniesta, never won the award either. Salah’s absence from the Ballon d’Or final shortlist shows that some people don’t know much about football.”

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Salah still underappreciated by many

Even ardent Liverpool fans would acknowledge that Salah wasn’t quite at his usual world-class levels towards the end of last season, but it still seems astonishing that a player of his consistent brilliance at the highest level didn’t even make the 30-player shortlist for the Ballon d’Or.

With no disrespect towards the likes of Vitinha and Mats Hummels, it seems difficult to fathom how they were deemed worthier of nomination than the Egyptian King, who this term has yet again proven to be a beacon of remarkable consistency by already entering double figures for both goals and assists.

Let’s just remind readers of the figures that he’s racked up at Anfield – 221 goals in 366 games for the club (fifth-highest in LFC history) and 165 in the Premier League (eighth-highest in the division, just 10 behind Pires’ ex-Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry).

Also, in seven full seasons at Liverpool, 23 is the lowest tally that Salah has for a single campaign, and he’s already well on course to surpass that with ease this season barring any lengthy injury concerns.

Pires is quite right to question why our number 11 didn’t even receive a nomination for the Ballon d’Or this year and has spoken the truth about the 32-year-old being right up there with the best players on the planet and somehow still underappreciated by many observers.