Football

Gary Neville brands Liverpool star Mohamed Salah a ‘cross between Lionel Messi and Ryan Giggs’


Salah scored a hat-trick against Leeds United (Picture: Getty)

Gary Neville has lavished praise on Mohamed Salah and believes the Liverpool star is a ‘cross between Lionel Messi and Ryan Giggs’.

The Egyptian kicked his 2020/2021 season with a hat-trick against Leeds United, ensuring Liverpool edged a 4-3 thriller at Anfield.

Salah has proven himself to be a world class player in his second spell in the Premier League and former Manchester United defender Neville was blown away by his performance against Leeds United.

‘Watching him on Saturday, it was almost like he was toying with the game itself, almost like he had the game in his hands,’ Neville said on Sky Sports.

‘Holding players off, yes Leeds are generous to play against because they give you time and space, but this is absolutely brilliant.

‘This is a cross between Messi and Giggs. An element of Messi and then the Giggs part.’

‘Four years ago when he came to Liverpool and got those 40-odd goals, I thought ‘that’s a freak, he won’t be able to live with that’,’ he continued.

‘And then he consistently delivers over a period of two and three years. We had a debate last season about (Sadio) Mane and Salah.

‘You think about the mentality difference. Mane is likeable, he gives his all every game, he does the selfless thing for the team.

‘You look at Salah on the other side, he doesn’t always pass, he’s a little bit more selfish, a little bit less likeable by the fans and his own team-mates.

‘But I look at him as an outsider, he is an absolute killer on the pitch. He reminds me of the twin trapping of (Wayne) Rooney and (Cristiano) Ronaldo in the mid 2000s when they were both like that.

‘That’s where Mane and Salah are. I think Salah will end up going above Mane, not because Mane isn’t a great player, as Rooney is a great player, but the reason these players are different is they’ve got something up there that means going home at night and being the best player in the world rocks their world.

‘Whereas actually a Rooney or a Mane, they feel the team has to win, they’ve got to give their all.’

Neville thinks Salah could be the world’s best soon (Picture: Getty)

Salah will be hoping to reclaim the Golden Boot this campaign having lost out to Jamie Vardy last season.

Neville expects the forward to continue to improve and thinks in a few years he might be considered the best player in the world.

‘(Kylian) Mbappe – he’s fantastic. Neymar – he’s up and down a little bit,’ Neville explained.

‘Where is the best player in the world going to be in the next couple of years? He’s not far away from it anyway.

‘But for me on Saturday he looked like an absolutely different level in that game.’

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