‘An absolute killer’ - Gary Neville claims Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah ‘not far’ from best player in the world conversation

Gary Neville has described Mohamed Salah as “an absolute killer” and insists he is in the conversation as best player in the world.

The Egyptian hit a hat-trick in the frenetic 4-3 victory over Leeds on Saturday, ensuring he hits the ground running entering his fourth season with the Reds.

And Neville believes Salah is in the conversation to be the best player in the world as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo enter the twilight of their careers.

“Salah is not far away from it,” Neville said on Monday Night Football. “On Saturday he looked like an absolutely different level.”

Neville also compared Salah to teammate Sadio Mane and explained why he believes the former Chelsea and Roma star will surpass the Senegalese in the next few years.

"You think about the mentality difference between Mane and Salah," Neville added. "Mane is likeable. I think the players probably love him, he gives his all every single day, he'll do the selfless thing for the team.

"Then you look at Salah over the other side. He doesn't pass sometimes to his team-mates. He's a little bit more selfish and a little bit less likeable because of that, probably to the fans and to his own team-mates.

"But then, I look at him as an outsider and I'm thinking that he is an absolute killer on the pitch.

"It reminds me of the twin tracking of [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Wayne] Rooney in the mid-2000s. That's where Mane and Salah are now.

"I think Salah will end up going above Mane, not because Mane's not a great player, he is a great player as Rooney was, but the reason players [like Salah or Ronaldo] are different is that they have something up here which means that they go home at night and being the best player in the world rocks their world.

"Whereas a Rooney or a Mane, they feel that the team's got to win, I've got to give my all, I'll fight for my team-mates. Salah doesn't do that."