Forget Salah: Liverpool may now have an even stronger Ballon d’Or contender – Our View

Follow us on Google Discover

For the past few months, all we’ve been hearing about is how Mohamed Salah is arguably the best player in the world.

So many pundits and players have been calling Salah the world’s best, and entering 2022, he was tipped as one of the strongest contenders for the Ballon d’Or.

However, Liverpool may now have a stronger contender for that award in the shape of Sadio Mane.

Of course, it’s incredibly early to make such a claim. After all, we’re only one month into the new year and there are still so many narratives to play out. However, it has to be said that Mane is leading Salah in the race for the Ballon d’Or as of right now.

Now, we’re not arguing that Mane has had a better season than Salah. The Egyptian has, quite simply, been out of this world this term.

However, unfortunately for Salah, the Ballon d’Or is based on your performance within a given calendar year, and right now Mane is 2022s main man.

Mane won the African Cup of Nations with Senegal and he was named as the tournament’s best player, and that, rightly or wrongly, often plays a massive part in the voting for the Ballon d’Or.

Just look at Jorginho’s ranking after winning the Euros with Italy last year, he finished third despite the fact he didn’t have the most outstanding season in the Premier League with Chelsea.

The African Cup of Nations can also have a similar effect on Ballon d’Or rankings. Riyad Mahrez managed to sneak his way into the top 10 after leading Algeria to glory in 2019, despite the fact he was in and out of the Manchester City starting XI that year.

There are 11 months to go in this race, and if Mane can return to the level of form that saw him win the Premier League Golden Boot in 2018/19 and he helps Liverpool to a major title, then don’t be surprised if he’s in the Ballon d’Or conversation come the end of the year.

Salah is arguably the best player in the world right now, but when you take into account recent voting patterns, Senegal’s AFCON win and Mane’s heroics, the left-winger is slightly ahead of Salah in the Ballon d’Or race right now.