Wayne Rooney has named who he believes is the best player in the world
He did so as a pundit on Amazon Prime's coverage of the match
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By ZAC CAMPBELL
Published: 16:35 EDT, 11 March 2025 | Updated: 16:35 EDT, 11 March 2025
Wayne Rooney has named who he believes is the best player in the world right now ahead of Liverpool's crunch tie at home to PSG in the Champions League on Tuesday night at Anfield.
Appearing as a pundit on Amazon Prime's coverage of the match, the former Manchester United striker gave his verdict.
Rooney said: 'Mo Salah, in my opinion, is the best in the world right now, he doesn’t always come back and you can get away with that [at his level]'.
The Egyptian winger has been in fine form for the Reds so far this season, scoring his 27th Premier League goal of the season in Liverpool's 3-1 win at home to Southampton on Saturday.
That victory - coupled with Arsenal's failure to win at Old Trafford on Sunday - means that Arne Slot's men have a 15 point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Despite his comments, Salah was initially upstaged by his counterpart Ousmane Dembele - who equalised for PSG to make it 1-1 on the night.
Wayne Rooney has named who he believes is the best player in the world right now ahead of Liverpool 's crunch tie at home to PSG
Rooney said: 'Mo Salah, in my opinion, is the best in the world right now, he doesn’t always come back and you can get away with that [at his level]'.
Dembele poked home after confusion at the heart of the Liverpool defence saw the ball fail to be cleared.
Rooney's remarks come after fellow pundit and ex-player Jamie Carragher said that Salah would struggle to be named as the best player in the world because - in the former Liverpool defender's eyes - AFCON is not a 'major tournament'.
Carragher landed in himself in hot water for the comments, which he made last month.
Speaking on Sky Sports after Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Manchester City in February, Carragher said: 'I think the problem (is) the fact he's with Egypt, and he's probably not playing in the major tournament as such, or maybe got a great chance of winning, I think it's either the Champions League or the major tournament.
Salah, 32, has never lifted the African continental title, but has twice on two occasions, doing so in 2017 and 2021.
Carragher was also labelled as 'unforgivably ignorant' by former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys for downplaying the significance of the tournament.
Writing in his blog post, Keys, 67, did not expilicitly mention Carragher but made clear reference to the debate surrounding his comments.
Keys wrote: 'Never mind the PL’s best ever - Mo Salah might just be Liverpool’s best ever - despite the fact he’s never played in a big tournament. Seriously. What ignorance. Unforgivable ignorance'.
Rooney's remarks come after fellow pundit and ex-player Jamie Carragher said that Salah could not be considered as the best player in the world
'Time and again down the years I’ve referenced the arrogance of so-called experts that live and work within the borders of the UK who think nothing beyond their territory matters.
'It’s why our WC here in Qatar was dismissed by so many of them - despite it going on to be the best ever - climaxing with the best games of football I’ve ever seen. '‘Qatar?'’, they asked. '‘Not England? Why? How could that happen?'’
'I’m slightly off course, so let me correct that. In a stat-based world, here’s one to think about. In Egypt alone, we at beINSPORTS probably had in excess of 100m people watching the showdown of the Egyptian Kings on Sunday. And that number doesn’t take into account the 22 other nations in our territory.
'Yeah. Egypt, who’re the most successful team in AFCON history, having won it seven times. Salah hasn’t won it yet - but he gets another chance towards the end of the year. Still - it’s not one of the big tournaments is it? It’s not played in England - or Europe, so it can’t be.'