German legend rules out Salah from Ballon d’Or due to Liverpool ‘problem’

Lothar Matthaus backs Jorginho and Lewandowski to beat Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah to the Ballon d’Or

Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah is the talk of the town right now in the football world. Arguably the best player on the planet today, his incredible hat-trick against Manchester United on Sunday saw him become the highest-scoring African player in Premier League history.  

Such a good run of form naturally places the Egyptian on a pedestal going into the final run-up to this season’s Ballon d’Or. However, according to Sky Sports (h/t Liverpool Echo), Lothar Matthaus believes Chelsea star Jorginho is ahead of him in the race because of the consistency he has shown throughout the year and last season. 

The German legend referred to the time when Salah as well as Liverpool FC suffered as a unit last season. He believes Jorginho was the more consistent of the two.

“In the spring, he(Salah) and Liverpool had serious problems. Candidate Jorginho from Chelsea has been convincing for almost the entire last season and played a key role in winning the Champions League and the European Championship with Italy.”

Liverpool had a fair number of injury problems last season. Despite that, they ended up finishing in the top four. Salah played a big role in it by scoring key goals in the final stretch of the season.

While Jorginho won the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea and the UEFA Euro 2020 with Italy, his success is exaggerated. It is debatable if Liverpool could have finished top four and Salah but Chelsea and Italy had other players who could replace Jorginho if needed.

The real threat?

Salah ended the season with 31 goals and six assists in all tournaments but he couldn’t win any major trophies. But then the award has to go to the best individual player and Jorginho certainly doesn’t fit that bill.

Perhaps predictably, Matthaus is rooting for Robert Lewandowski this season to win the coveted Ballon d’Or trophy.  The Polish international has been one of the best players in the world and certainly has a case in his favour.

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Lionel Messi is expected to be the front runner for the trophy having won the Copa America with the Argentine national team and Copa Del Rey with the Barcelona team. 

Football fans around the world are waiting for November 29 when the winner of the trophy will be announced at the Theater du Chatelet in Paris.