‘Ballon d’Or’: Agbonlahor says £30m Liverpool star is ‘above Mo Salah’

Follow us on Google Discover

Gabby Agbonlahor has told talkSPORT that Liverpool’s Sadio Mane is ‘above Mohamed Salah’ in this year’s Ballon d’Or race.

Since both returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, which Mane’s Senegal won against Salah’s egypt, the former has arguably been more important for Liverpool.

The former Southampton attacker has netted six goals in his last nine Premier League appearances and also scored a double in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Manchester City earlier this month.

Salah still has 11 goals more than Mane across all competitions for the Reds this season.

But prior to scoring twice against Manchester United last Tuesday, he had been struggling to be the same goalscoring presence under Jurgen Klopp since returning from Africa Cup of Nations.

And Agbonlahor, speaking to talkSPORT, believes that Mane has a genuine overall shot at winning the coveted individual prize, particularly over his Liverpool teammate.

He said: “We will probably look at Benzema and Lewandowski, but I’m looking at Sadio Mane. He’s won the Africa Cup of Nations, got a chance of winning the Premier League, has won the Carabao Cup and could win the FA Cup and Champions League and he’s scored a lot of goals this season.

“I look at the way the Ballon d’Or is given, it includes trophies as well. Sadio Mane winning the Africa Cup of Nations, I’d put him above Mo Salah as well.”

It isn’t just goals that lead to these sort of awards.

If it was, Salah wouldn’t have finished seventh in the Ballon d’Or voting last year, despite out-scoring most other players in the running.

Agbonlahor is right in saying that trophies are also important and with Mane playing a big role in Senegal winning the Africa Cup of Nations, well you can’t argue that despite Salah scoring more goals, the 30-year-old, a £30 million signing in 2016, might have a stronger case.

Also, Mane has evolved into a different sort of attacker in recent weeks, taking on more of a Roberto Firmino role while Luis Diaz terrorises down the left-hand side.

In fact, one of Salah’s two goals against the Red Devils was borne out of a piece of genius by Mane who, according to Michael Owen, grabbed an ‘unbelievable‘ assist.

Overall performances is also likely to be a big factor and who knows, if Mane plays a big role in Liverpool winning a quadruple this season then that, combined with his international valour, might well result in him being considered a genuine candidate.