Fabrizio Romano suggested that Liverpool’s Mo Salah should have potentially been placed higher in the rankings for the Ballon d’Or than sixth-placed Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Egyptian international was ranked the seventh-best footballer in world footballer for his efforts over the calendar year, with Leo Messi once again scooping the award.
“I think it’s about the other positions,” the reporter exclusively told Empire of the Kop. “For me, Mo Salah, for the season he had – we expect Cristiano, I think we can say that Cristiano has been and still is a fantastic player, he’s a legendary player – but for the season Mo Salah did something special, more than Cristiano.”
The Italian noted that a few players, in his view, had been let down by the rankings, adding that he felt ‘disappointed’ for the Egyptian international and the award in general.
“I’m really disappointed for players like Haaland and Salah because I think they deserved something different.
“At the same point, I am disappointed for the whole award sometimes because I think players like centre-backs, like midfielders, like goalkeepers, need to be considered for these kind of awards for the future of the award.
“If we only give the award to the No.10, No.7, No.9, we are going to have a long-term project – it’s going to be boring.”
It’s truly difficult to understand what our Egyptian King could done more to have earnt great recognition at the award.
Some will undoubtedly point to a comparative lack of goals last term, thought such an observation would appear to ignore the circumstances around the campaign, with the 29-year-old helping steer an injury-ridden Liverpool outfit to the top four places in the English top-flight.
By his own high standards, we can argue that Messi fell short of the mark – similarly to Ronaldo – and as such it seemed an award granted to him by virtue of his reputation rather than the overall picture.