“All of that goes away" - Troy Deeney makes bold predictions as he claims Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is not world class 

Former Premier League striker Troy Deeney has made a surprising claim that Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is not a world-class player. He believes the Egyptian is not on the same level as Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr.

While on talkSPORT, Deeney said that he would prefer his kids follow the likes of Vincius Jr and not Salah. He admitted that the Liverpool star was an exceptional goal scorer, but did not think that made him a world-class player. He opined:

"I think Mohamed Salah is excellent, he’s a pivotal part for Liverpool and they should never have let it [his expiring contract] get to this situation. But I understand that there’s a financial structure around what they want to try and keep to. My argument has always been that I just don’t think he’s world class. But world class is just a different opinion, what I think of world class is would I want my kids to play like that player?"

"That's what I think is world class. If I was asking my kids who want to be forwards, I would be saying I would like them to look at what Vinicius Jr does as opposed to Mohamed Salah. But his goals that he [Salah] scores, he scores an unbelievable amount of goals, he's highly effective, but that’s just my opinion. He's probably going to turn around and say, 'Who the f*** is Troy?,' and fair play to him, but that's my opinion," he added.

Speaking about the forward's future at Anfield, Deeney stated that Salah was bound to be loved by Liverpool fans even if he moved to the Saudi Pro League. He added:

“He’s massive in the Middle East. He's a huge, huge draw, but we look at it solely from a league perspective. But think about how many times this guy gets hammered for just posting pictures on Christmas day. All of that goes away and there are so many nuanced pieces to it. At this stage of his career I don’t think he’s going for money, I could be wrong, but I don’t think he’s going for money."

Recent reports suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo was trying to lure Mohamed Salah to Al Nassr.

Mohamed Salah in the final year of his contract at Liverpool

Mohamed Salah has not signed a new deal at Liverpool yet and is in the final year of his current deal. The forward will be free to discuss terms with any club from January as he will enter the final six months of his deal.

Liverpool are keen on keeping the forward but no agreement has been reached yet. The Reds are reportedly in discussion with the Egyptian forward's entourage.

El Nacional reported last week that the Reds would be open to selling the Egyptian in January if he failed to agree on a new deal. However, they would demand a fee of over €100 million for the former Chelsea star.