Troy Deeney has raised eyebrows by claiming that Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is “not world-class.”
Despite Salah’s impressive achievements, Deeney has some reservations about his style of play.
Salah, a pivotal figure for Liverpool, has won every major trophy available with the club, and he currently ranks fifth on their all-time scoring list and eighth in the Premier League’s history of top scorers.
Additionally, Salah has finished third in the FIFA Best Award voting twice and recently became the highest-scoring African player in Champions League history.
He also boasts two Premier League Golden Boots.
However, for Deeney, there is one key criterion that Salah has yet to meet.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the Watford legend explained: “I think Mohamed Salah is excellent, he’s a pivotal part for Liverpool and they should never have let it [his expiring contract] get to this situation.
“But I understand that there’s a financial structure around what they want to try and keep to.
“My argument has always been that I just don’t think he’s world class.
“But world class is just a different opinion, what I think of world class is would I want my kids to play like that player? That’s what I think is world class.
“If I was asking my kids who want to be forwards, I would be saying I would like them to look at what Vinicius Jr does as opposed to Mohamed Salah.
“But his goals that he [Salah] scores, he scores an unbelievable amount of goals, he’s highly effective, but that’s just my opinion.
“He’s probably going to turn around and say, ‘Who the f*** is Troy?,’ and fair play to him, but that’s my opinion.”
Read more: Darwin Nunez breaks silence following Uruguay’s dramatic 3-2 win over Colombia
Lyon president vows not to let Liverpool target Rayan Cherki leave for cheap
