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Mo Salah has 'very good' Ballon d'Or chance, says Ian Wright

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Winning the Champions League would give Mohamed Salah 'a very good chance' of winning the Ballon D'Or, Ian Wright told The Debate

Winning the Champions League would give Mohamed Salah 'a very good chance' of winning the Ballon D'Or, Ian Wright told The Debate.

Salah was again the hero as Liverpool beat Roma 5-2 in the first leg of their semi-final, scoring twice and making another two of the Reds' goals to give them a superb chance of reaching a first final in 11 years.

The Egyptian has broken records left, right and centre for Liverpool this season, netting 42 goals in all competitions, and is still in with a chance of becoming the highest ever scorer in a Premier League season.

Wright told The Debate the 25-year-old's performances would need to be coupled with silverware before he entered the debate for being named the world's best player.

He said: "Salah is in that conversation, of course he is. With the World Cup coming in, the form he is you'd like to think he'll keep that for the World Cup. Obviously depending on what Liverpool do in the Champions League, if they do go on and win it, then you have to say when you look at Cristiano Ronaldo, he's saved much of his best work for the Champions League.

Mohamed Salah has averaged a goal or assist every 66 minutes
Image: Mohamed Salah has averaged a goal or assist every 66 minutes in the Premier League

"He's [Ronaldo] won the Ballon d'Or a couple of times, and not just for those reasons but if Mo Salah keeps on doing what he's doing, he's not only in the conversation, he's got a very good chance of winning it."

Gordon Strachan said the Egyptian's ability with both feet makes life impossible for defenders attempting to stop him - as he proved against Roma in another all-energy performance at Anfield - and thinks performances of that ilk put him into a bracket with the world's best attacking talents.

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"Tonight he was in that level, with Messi and Ronaldo," he said. "But you've got to be talking about doing that for four or five years. He's doing Messi-esque things right now.

"He's left-footed, everyone knows that, but he can move you one way and then the other, but if you show him too much down the right, he'll go past you like he showed against Roma from one of his assists."

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