Mohamed Salah 'treated unfairly' but it cannot hide what's really happening with Liverpool forward

Individual honours in a team sport are always ripe for controversy. After all, anything that involves arbitrary selection rather than sporting merit is always going to prompt heated debate.

But amid all the recent furore over the Ballon d'Or - so tedious has the discourse around that award become, it is in danger of being renamed the Ballon Bore - there was one matter that was largely overlooked: Mohamed Salah wasn't even on the shortlist.

That Liverpool didn't win the Premier League title and Egypt unable to scoop an international honour - unlike eventual winner Rodri with Manchester City and Spain - and the Reds failed to claim the Champions League - not a shortcoming for as runner-up Vinicius Jnr of Real Madrid - meant there was little chance of Salah getting anywhere near the front-runners.

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However, to be ignored entirely was questionable. There's little doubt the injury issues that hampered Salah for the opening two months of the calendar year and ruined his Africa Cup of Nations contributed to an underwhelming end to the campaign, leading to an unseemly spat with Jurgen Klopp on the touchline during the 2-2 draw at West Ham United in April.

Nevertheless, he still ended the season with 25 goals and 14 assists in 44 Liverpool appearances, along with six goals and four assists in 10 games for Egypt.

"Salah was treated unfairly by being left out of the Ballon d’Or list," says former Arsenal winger and France World Cup winner Robert Pires. "It’s a loss for the list, not for Salah. This isn’t the players’ fault, it’s the journalists’ mistake. Many great players, like Thierry Henry, Xavi, and Andres Iniesta, never won the award either.

"Salah’s absence from the Ballon d’Or final shortlist shows that some people don’t know much about football."

And there has been no sign of Salah slowing down this season under new head coach Arne Slot despite the potential distraction of the ongoing speculation regarding his future with no resolution yet from contract talks with Liverpool. As things stand, the 32-year-old is set to leave on a free when his present deal expires at the end of the campaign.

With 10 goals and 10 assists in 17 games for Liverpool this term, the forward has reached double figures in both metrics sooner than any player in Europe's leading leagues and has managed it faster than any Liverpool representative in the last 40 years.

And having long established himself as a goalscorer, Salah is increasingly becoming a provider. He already stands just six off his best season for assists in the 2022/23 campaign, and is only three away from becoming only the sixth Liverpool player to notch a century.

"Mohamed Salah is the best player in the Premier League," adds Pires, speaking to Egyptian news outlet MBC MASR 2. "He has a fantastic mentality, and his level doesn’t surprise me because he’s one of the best players in Europe and the world.

"In Egypt, you know he’s the best in the national team, but what he does with Liverpool is truly exceptional. He’s maintained his level for many years, playing different roles, scoring goals and providing assists."

Salah will remain on Merseyside this international break after being given a rest from national team duty with Egypt having already qualified for the next Africa Cup on Nations.

With 221 goals in 366 appearances, he is only eight off moving above Billy Liddell into fourth place in the all-time Liverpool goalscorers list. Not since Roger Hunt in the 1960s has a player scored at least 10 goals in eight successive seasons for the Reds, with Gordon Hodgson the only other to achieve such a feat.

"I've been with him now for four or five months and you guys have seen him for seven years, it's special that he has scored so many goals already (this season) but what makes it even more impressive is he does this year after year after year after year," said Slot, speaking to LFC TV.

"Not many players are able to do that and that he's able to do this tells you a lot about the quality he has."

Small wonder the banner that was flown on the Kop during Saturday's win over Aston Villa that read 'FSG - He fires a bow, now give Mo his dough'. The Egyptian King appears in no mood to abdicate his throne any time soon.