Pep Guardiola exposes major question over Mohamed Salah at Liverpool
| Published date | 30 April 2022 |
| Publication title | Liverpool Echo: Web Edition Articles (England) |
Instead, the conundrum remains: is Salah truly appreciated by those outside Anfield
There's no doubt Jurgen Klopp acknowledges the value of the Egyptian. So too the forward's team-mates, and without doubt the Liverpool support. The club also, even if they seemingly aren't quite yet on the same page as the player and his representatives over the longer-term picture.
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Yet there is this strange sense the talent and high-level of consistency shown by Salah isn't quite as acknowledged beyond those who admire him regularly.
It was demonstrated again on Friday when it emerged the Liverpool man had been named Footballer of the Year for a second time, having first been recognised in 2018. He is one of only nine to earn the accolade on multiple occasions, and just the third Reds player after Kenny Dalglish and John Barnes to win it twice.
And it wasn't even close, Salah receiving 48% of the vote to finish ahead of Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne and West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice. In total, nine Liverpool players were nominated.
On the face of it, it was hardly a contentious decision. In the Premier League alone, Salah has scored the most goals -22 -and provided the most assists -13 -in 31 games so far. In terms of goal involvements, his tally of 35 is 12 more than his nearest rival, Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-Min.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, though, gave the impression he wasn't quite so convinced when asked about the award later on in the day.
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"Congratulations to Salah," he said. "Jurgen said, they have the best keeper, the second-best second keeper in the world, the best central defender, the best holding midfielder, the best striker, so it's...
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