Liverpool legend John Barnes believes Mo Salah needs to score a hatful of goals in the club’s remaining fixtures to have any chance of being awarded the Ballon d’Or at the end of the year.
Many feel that the Reds’ early exit from the Champions League will damage the ex-Chelsea forward’s prospects of picking up the prize in December and, speaking to Walkon.com on behalf of PokerScout, Barnes said Salah has to finish the season strongly:
“When Rodri won it, they talked about why he won and not Vinicius Jr. But Vinicius Jr. is still around, and you have Jude Bellingham, and you have other players who are sitting in the Champions League. I think that the Ballon d’Or winner normally comes from someone who has either done well or won the Champions League. Obviously, depending on how Mo now goes in the league, if he then scores lots of goals in the league between March and May, he will have a chance of winning it. But I think that obviously going out of the Champions League, doesn’t help his cause.”
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Barnes does think that another factor in Salah‘s favour is that no one else has really made a case for themselves to be the favourite for the award:
“As much as I’m saying that, I don’t think there’s any real standout player this season. When Haaland had scored 60 goals or whatever he did, and Rodri had a fantastic season and won the treble, they were standout players, but I don’t think there’s any player or any club who’s playing consistently well to then say, definitively, they’re definitely going to win the Ballon d’Or. Although Liverpool are out, if Mo has a good end to the season with all the goals he’s scored so far, I think that he would have a chance. But obviously, going out of the Champions League has probably worked against him.”
Who is the current favourite for the Ballon d’Or?
Barcelona’s Raphinha is regarded as the top choice for the award at the moment, with the Brazilian having scored 27 goals and provided 20 assists in 47 appearances this season. Those figures are impressive but he still trails Salah by five goal involvements.
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is also favoured at the bookmakers ahead of Liverpool’s No.11 at the moment, despite the Frenchman having had a slow start to life at the Bernabeu.
Salah has been breaking records for Liverpool
The Egyptian international has become the club’s third-highest scorer of all time over the course of the campaign, having surpassed legends Billy Liddell and Gordon Hodgson.
Salah could also break the Premier League scoring record for the most goals in a single season. He would need 9 more in the last 9 games to beat Erling Haaland’s total of 35 which was set in 2023.
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