Liverpool Forward Mohamed Salah Reaches the Premier League One Hundred Club
Mohamed Salah has enjoyed a solid start to the 2021-22 Premier League season; scoring three goals and assisting two in four appearances for Liverpool thus far. This past weekend the Egyptian forward scored his 100th Premier League goal against Leeds United, a feat achieved by only thirty players in the league’s history. Of those select few, he is one of only two wingers to score over 100 goals. So where does Mohamed Salah rank amongst the greatest Premier League wingers of all time? In my opinion, he’s the best winger we’ve ever seen in England.
Over the past half a decade, the only better right-winger in world football has been Lionel Messi. Since Salah joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, he’s won the Premier League, Champions League, Super Cup, and Club World Cup. Individually he’s won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2017-18, the Puskas in 2018, won the Premier League Golden Boot on two occasions, has been selected in the Champions League Squad of the Season once, and in the PFA Team of the Year twice. Known as the “Egyptian King” to Liverpool fans, this dynamic attacker has achieved legendary team and individual accolades. Mohamed Salah has revolutionized the winger position in the Premier League. He’s put up statistics comparable to the best strikers on the planet, and he’s doing it in a wider role. What Salah has done since entering the Premier League has been unprecedented. If he continues his form and remains injury-free for a few more seasons, it wouldn’t be surprising if he goes down as one of the greatest African footballers of all time.
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool 2017 – Present)
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United 2003 – 2009) – First Stint
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea 2012 – 2019)
The list I curated above includes some of the greatest players who have ever graced the game. Each has left their mark on the sport’s history, but I’ve ranked them in this order based on skill, creativity, end product, and their Premier League impact. Mohamed Salah is similar to Steph Curry; both athletes have changed how their respective positions are played. We’ve never seen somebody like Salah operate so consistently as a goal-scoring threat from wide in the Premier League. In his first season alone, he had a combined 42 goal contributions for Liverpool. Only Luis Suarez (43) and Thierry Henry (44) have had higher goal contributions in Premier League history. Salah is a potent finisher of the ball and is just as adept as setting up a goal for another player.
Cristiano Ronaldo is number two because his flair in his first stint at Manchester United is unmatched. He desired to entertain. As Ronaldo developed and matured, he began to add more end product to his game in goals and assists. In the 2007-08 season, this came to a head when he scored 31 Premier League goals and assisted 7. Ronaldo’s performances that season won him the Ballon D’or, which is awarded to the world’s best player. The Portuguese forward played a seismic role in Manchester United winning three Premier League titles in a row before leaving to Real Madrid for a then world-record fee. Had he not left United, he’d be number one on my list. The reason I’m ranking his first stint at United is because the Ronaldo returning to the Premier League in 2021 is a different player than the one that left in 2009. He now operates more centrally in the box rather than taking on players from wide positions.
Eden Hazard is another winger who lit the Premier League ablaze. Hazard in the Premier League was the complete package. Capable of scoring and assisting with either foot, the Belgian playmaker was a crucial cog in a Chelsea side that won the Premier League twice. Most of Chelsea’s offensive creativity during Hazard’s seven years at the club flowed through him. He possessed the tactical flexibility to adapt his game to seven different manager’s styles during his time at Chelsea. Hazard was a player whose game kept you at the edge of your seat—a true Premier League legend.
What are your thoughts? Please leave them in the comments below!
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