John Aldridge was prolific for Liverpool in the 1980s and has been watching his beloved Reds for more than 50 years
14:55, 17 Mar 2025
Liverpool Legends vs Real Madrid Legends at Anfield. John Aldridge celebrates his Kop goal
John Aldridge has been a regular in Liverpool legends matches since hanging up his boots(Image: Liverpool Echo)
As a player John Aldridge lived every Liverpool fans' dream, as he helped his hometown club lift the First Division title in 1988.
The former Republic of Ireland international enjoyed a meteoric rise from the Fourth Division with minnows Newport County to lifting the top tier title at Anfield as the club's top scorer under Kenny Dalglish's management just four years later. But he says current Reds goal-machine Mo Salah still has some way to go before he's considered one of the Merseyside club's all-time greats.
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And Aldridge says that two icons at Ibrox should be considered royalty at the Reds, with former Gers boss Steven Gerrard - heavily linked with a return following the sacking of Philippe Clement - Aldridge's favourite ever Liverpool player.
Speaking to VegasStars he said: "For me, Mo’s not top five. Because I’ve watched Liverpool since the sixties, like Roger Hunt is getting in my top five, Kenny Dalglish gets my top five, John Barnes gets my top five, Graeme Souness gets in my top five.
"Then you’ve Ian Rush, Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard! He’s number one. He’s number one out of the whole lot in my opinion.
"Mo Salah is brilliant; you can’t knock him with what he’s done for Liverpool. I’ve watched Liverpool over a span of sixty years so unfortunately Mo’s not in my top five.
"For everyone else who’s about twenty years of age, he probably would be, but there’s been some tremendous Liverpool teams and players."
Liverpool great Gerrard guided Rangers to a first Premiership title in a decade years in 2021 before leaving the club for Aston Villa. After being axed by the club after less than a year in charge he moved to Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq. That move also proved unsuccessful with Gerrard leaving in late January.
Liverpool 3 Versus Everton 2 FA Cup Final 1989
John Aldridge
John Aldridge was a hugely popular player at Liverpool(Image: Mirrorpix)
Souness meanwhile starred as a player/manager for Rangers between 1986 and 1991, guiding the Ibrox club to two league titles before leaving for Liverpool.
And two other names on the list also have managerial experience in Glasgow, with Kenny Dalglish serving as Celtic interim boss after the sacking of John Barnes in 2000.
Salah's future on Merseyside meanwhile looks in doubt, with the Egpyptian, skipper Virgil van Dijk and local hero Trent Alexander-Arnold all still to commit their future to Arne Slot's side, with Aldridge admitting he could see all three leaving over the summer.
The 66-year-old added: "I don’t know. Even Virgil is saying he honestly doesn’t know. I don’t know whether I believe that. We’ll see.
"I find it quite hard to believe that the owners have not spoken to them. Surely, they spoke with the agents and got a feel for where they’re going.
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"I’m surmising like everyone else, I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t look favourable with Trent really, does it? But we’ll see what unfolds."