The Egyptian superstar finished down in seventh place in the 2021 Ballon d’Or rankings.
Mohamed Salah will have an ‘outstanding chance’ of winning the Ballon d’Or if he can have another fine season and help Liverpool win a major title, according to Michael Owen.
The 29-year-old Egyptian finished in seventh-place in the 2021 Ballon d’Or rankings, a result he admitted ‘shocked’ him, but is once again a front-runner for this year’s edition.
Salah has built a strong case for himself already. The forward has supplied countless goals in all competitions, and he recently helped Liverpool win the EFL Cup – the club’s first trophy since 2020.
‘You need both the team & the individual to do well’
But Owen, the only Liverpool player to claim the Ballon d’Or, thinks Salah has to win either the Premier League or Champions League this season first to follow in his footsteps.
“He’s certainly got the ability,” the former Reds striker told Liverpool ECHO about Salah’s Ballon d’Or chances.
“But as well know, even in my case, you’ve got to have a great year.
“I scored 31 goals for Liverpool in the calendar year and won five trophies. For England too, I had a great time and scored a hat-trick away in Germany when we beat them 5-1.
“Everything’s got to align in the same year and you’ve got to win something.
“Liverpool have won the League Cup. If they now win the League or win the Champions League and Mo Salah continues to have the season that he did last year, then absolutely he’s got an outstanding chance of winning it.
“Based on performances last year, he could have easily won it. Performance-wise, he probably should have won it.
“But with Liverpool not winning the Champions League and not winning the Premier League, that went against him I think. You need both the team to do well and the individual to do well so fingers crossed it’s going to happen this year.”
What next for Salah?
The forward is set to return to action on Tuesday for the second leg of Liverpool’s last-16 tie with Inter Milan in the Champions League.
After scoring the second goal in the club’s 2-0 first-leg win at San Siro, Salah hopes to finish the job at home this time around. The bookies are certainly backing Liverpool to do so. At the time of writing, Bet365 has priced a Reds win at 1.53.
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