The new year is upon us, and that means that the race for the 2022 Ballon d’Or is about to begin.
Lionel Messi won his seventh award last time around, but it seems as though he won’t have a clear path to his eighth Golden Ball in 2022.
Indeed, Messi’s form has dipped at PSG, while new contenders are also emerging.
Amongst those contenders is undoubtedly Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian is being touted as the best player on the planet on seemingly a weekly basis, while his numbers this term speak for themselves.
Salah will certainly have his eye on the Ballon d’Or as we head into 2022, and we’re going to look at three things he has to do to win this award.
Break records
Salah looks on track for his third Premier League Golden Boot award, and one surefire way to put himself in the Ballon d’Or mix is to break a record.
Salah holds the scoring record in a 38-game Premier League season after his 32 goal haul in 2017/18, and if he manages to surpass that mark, it will be almost impossible to ignore him in the running for this award.
However, while goals are Salah’s meat and drink, he’s also the top assister in the league, and with nine assists in 17 games so far this term, that record mark of 20 set by Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne is also in reach.
If Salah can win the Golden Boot while setting the assist record, he’ll surely be in the mix for the Ballon d’Or.
Win something big
In recent years, the Ballon d’Or podium places have almost always been dominated by players who have won a major honour.
Messi’s Copa America triumph will certainly have helped him on his way this year, while Luka Modric never would have won in 2018 if he wasn’t part of a Champions League-winning Real Madrid side.
Similarly, Jorginho would never have been in the top three this year if he hadn’t been a part of a Champions League and Premier League winning side.
Liverpool are in the mix for both the Premier League and the Champions League this term, while Egypt are also contenders for the African Cup of Nations.
Salah needs to pick up some silverware in 2022 if he wants to win the most prestigious individual award in the sport.
Create a career-defining moment
Stats may be the order of the day in modern football, but big moments are where Ballon d’Ors are won and lost.
It’s no coincidence that Ronaldo won the award in 2002 after scoring a brace in a World Cup Final, nor is it by chance that Marco van Basten won in 1988 after his incredible volley in the Euros final.
Outside of the Messi and Ronaldo era, these awards are often won by players who produce moments of brilliance that will transcend generations, and Salah is certainly capable of producing an era-defining moment.
We’ve seen his goals vs Watford and Man City already this season. If he can produce a goal of that level in a key Champions League game or in a Premier League title-deciding clash, he will certainly wow a few of the Ballon d’Or voters.
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