Mo Salah is being talked up as an early favourite to win the Ballon d’Or this year, with the Liverpool winger enjoying a season for the ages.
The Egyptian has already surpassed 50 goal contributions for the campaign – one of six mind-blowing statistics read out by Gary Lineker on a recent podcast – and has been a core factor in the Reds establishing themselves as prospective Premier League and Champions League winners in May.
In order to become just the second LFC player to win the most coveted individual honour in football, though (after Michael Owen in 2001), Arne Slot has acknowledged that our number 11 would probably need to win major silverware with his club in 2025.
What did Slot say about Salah’s Ballon d’Or chances?
The Liverpool head coach was asked at this morning’s press conference about Salah’s prospects of winning the Ballon d’Or, and he suggested that the 32-year-old’s chances of doing so would be enhanced by the Reds potentially becoming champions of England and/or Europe.
The Dutchman said (via Liverpool Echo): “It’s mostly about attackers but the last winner was a midfielder. The good thing is that Mo is in the discussion, as that means he is doing well and we are doing well. In general someone who wins the Ballon d’Or needs to win something with his team as well.
“What I liked a lot is that he takes on this challenge with a big goal and assist against Man City, but his defensive work-rate in the second half particulary was outstanding.
“If we as a team win something, he has a far better chance to win the Ballon d’Or. It would make his chance only bigger [if we win the Champions League] but the last one who won it didn’t [Rodri].
“It’s not just about the amount of prizes you win, but most of ones who won [the Ballon d’Or] won the league or the Champions League. Football is always like this – you need the team to win indvidual prizes, but Mo understands that.”
Salah must surely scoop Ballon d’Or if Liverpool win big prizes
Somewhat surprisingly, only once since 2018 has the Ballon d’Or gone to a player who won the Champions League in the same year (Karim Benzema in 2022), so even if Liverpool win the Premier League but come up short in Europe, Salah could be well in with a shout this time around.
Should the Reds scoop both of those trophies and the Egyptian maintain his current rate of goal contributions per game to the end of the season (which’d leave him with a staggering 76 G/A), it’d seem like a gross injustice for him not to be formally acknowledged as the world’s best footballer in 2025.
With no major international tournaments taking place before the ceremony in October, either, a standout campaign at club level should be sufficient for the 32-year-old to succeed Rodri as the winner of the sport’s peak individual accolade.
If Salah’s cheat-code goal and assist tallies weren’t enough to convince the adjudicating journalists to name him as their pick for the Ballon d’Or, the outrageous pieces of skill that he executed in the win over Manchester City on Sunday showcase a footballer who, it could be legitimately claimed, is currently without equal.
First and foremost, we want the Egyptian to pocket Premier League and Champions League winner’s medals by the end of this season, and hopefully he’ll go on to be officially recognised as the best player on the planet in the autumn.
