Neville likens Salah to Rooney and Ronaldo – but points out key difference

Gary Neville has likened the impact of Mohamed Salah at Liverpool to that of Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney at Manchester United following his hat-trick in the win against Leeds on Saturday.

Salah has become one of the most feared forwards in the world since joining the Reds from Roma in 2017, and has now scored 97 goals in 154 appearances in all competitions for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

He was back to his devastating best in the 4-3 victory against Leeds, and will again be one of the hot favourites to win the Golden Boot in the Premier League this season.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville stated his huge admiration for both Salah and his teammate Sadio Mane, but thinks the former just about has the edge.

“I look at him (Salah) as an outsider and I’m thinking that he is an absolute killer on the pitch,” Neville said.

“It reminds me of the twin tracking of Ronaldo and Rooney in the mid-2000s. That’s where Mane and Salah are now.

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“I think Salah will end up going above Mane, not because Mane’s not a great player, he is a great player as Rooney was, but the reason players [like Salah or Ronaldo] are different is that they have something up here [in their head] which means that they go home at night and being the best player in the world rocks their world, whereas a Rooney or a Mane, they feel that the team’s got to win, I’ve got to give my all, I’ll fight for my team-mates. Salah doesn’t do that.”

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Neville also believes that when the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo eventually retire, Salah may well be considered the best player in the world.

He added: “[Kylian] Mbappe, he’s fantastic. Neymar, he’s a bit up and down… Where is the best player in the world going to be in the next couple of years?

“Salah is not far away from it anyway, but to me on Saturday [against Leeds] he looked like an absolutely different level.”