LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp has questioned why Mo Salah keeps being compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp has questioned why Mo Salah keeps being compared to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Salah has had a stellar debut season with Liverpool, netting 44 goals across all competitions.
He will come up against Ronaldo on Saturday as the Reds face Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Kiev.
But his stunning campaign has brought comparisons to Messi and Ronaldo with many suggesting Salah could win the Ballon d’Or.
Barcelona star Messi and Ronaldo have dominated that award for the past decade, each lifting the gold trophy five times.
That shows the level of consistency the pair have had throughout their careers.
And Klopp believes comparisons are worthless until Egyptian Salah produces the goods year after year.
"Mo had a fantastic season, but Cristiano has played 15 seasons like this," Klopp said. "He has scored something like 47,000 goals – crazy numbers.
"Why should we compare? At the time of Pele nobody compared Pele to other players and asked, 'Is he as good as him?' Now we have Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, who have dominated football for a few years.
"Messi and Ronaldo are, in the final moment, very often in the right position to score a goal – and that's the most difficult thing to do in the world.
"That's why they are where they are. The Ballon d’Or is always between them. It’s deserved.
“When they stop playing football we’ll miss them, 100 per cent. I don't have to make these kind of stories about Salah and Ronaldo.
"It's not about having the better individual. Usually, it's about playing the better football – and, for that, you need all the other players as well."
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