Mohamed Salah has a final step to take to reach level of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, insists Keane

Updated 26/04/2018 at 08:55 GMT

Roy Keane believes Mohamed Salah still has a point to prove if he wants to be compared with the greats of the game.

Mohamed Salah (FC Liverpool)

Image credit: Getty Images

The Egyptian carried on his superb form when he scored twice against Roma in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night, taking his tally for the season to 43 in all matches.

Salah has gone ahead of Lionel Messi in the odds to be Ballon d’Or winner but is still behind Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid, whose team beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in their semi-final first leg in Germany on Wednesday.

Premier League

Origi signs new Liverpool deal

10/07/2019 at 17:25

Yet former Manchester United captain Keane, who won the Champions League in 1999, thinks he must go a step further to prove beyond doubt that he is one of the top players.

"I always look at the strikers playing well and he has been compared to Ronaldo and Messi," he said on ITV Sport.

I think you still have to end up with one or two trophies with your club at the end of the season.

"Part of my make-up when I played with players was if my strikers are scoring 25-30 goals like Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, we have to win trophies.

"Liverpool haven't done that yet. If they end up winning the Champions League and he scores in the final, then start giving out the prizes.

"He still has to do a bit more for me and that is getting his hands on a trophy at club level."

'43 goals guys, f hell. 43 goals, f hell'

Dejan Lovren, however, believes that Salah is already a 'superstar'. When asked if he could be given this tag already, the Liverpool centre-back replied: “Yes, he is the one. He is becoming the superstar.

“It looks easy what he does but it is very difficult. Maybe I couldn’t look into the future in pre-season and think he could do this. But how he was working, how he wants the ball… he is just a different player.

“We help him, the manager helps and this style of play helps him a lot. He didn’t play that style before Basel, Chelsea, Roma. They had different styles and this style suits him perfectly, hopefully he will just stay injury free and that is the most important thing."

Lovren also believes he could rank with Messi and Ronaldo at the end of the season too.

“If he continues like that – I don’t know if this is the right time to put pressure on him – but I believe he should be regarded as one of the best three in the world at the end of the year," he added.

He deserves how he is doing right now. He deserves to be mentioned for the ball, Ballon d’Or. When people talk about Messi and Ronaldo they should also talk about Salah.

“He deserves the credit but I think he deserves even more to be honest. 43 goals guys, f****** hell. 43 goals, f****** hell.”

Premier League