With the highly-anticipated 2022 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony taking place tonight, an organiser of the event has made a surprising claim about Liverpool nominee Mohamed Salah's chances of clinching the acclaimed prize.
The Egypt international was the hero in Liverpool's narrow 1-0 Premier League win over arch-rivals Manchester City on Sunday after scoring a stunning solo goal on the counter-attack in the 76th minute.
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The 30-year-old has enjoyed a successful spell at Anfield since his 2017 arrival from AS Roma, having won every available team trophy and a slew of individual awards, including the Premier League UEFA Champions League titles, and the 2021/22 Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year accolade.
Last season, the forward was also heavily influential in his side's success as the Reds put up an EPL title challenge until the very last day of the season, won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup and also reached the Champions League final in May.
Salah finished that campaign with 31 goals and 16 assists across his 51 appearances for the Merseyside outfit, and won the Premier League Golden Boot, alongside Tottenham Hotspur talisman Heung-min Son, although he also suffered agony with the Egypt national team, losing the Africa Cup of Nations final and then failing to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, both at the hands of Senegal.
Having earned himself a 2022 Ballon d'Or nomination, France Football director Pascal Ferre has now insisted the Pharaoh can finish in the top three in tonight's gala.
"Salah is among the five or six players nominated for the award because in the 2021/22 season he achieved a lot and was named the best player in the Premier League," he told MBC Masr.
"But he did not win the 2021 Africa Nations Cup and did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup while his former teammate Sadio Mane did, but I think he can make the top three.
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"Salah is an exceptional player and one day he will win the award because he has incredible qualities.
"He is an icon in the Middle East and the Arab world."
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