"His level is truly world class" - Ex-Liverpool star explains why Lionel Messi is the only player on Mohamed Salah's level

Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel has explained why Lionel Messi is the only player at Mohamed Salah's level. This comes amid the Egyptian winger's remarkable run of form for the Reds this season. Indeed, Salah has racked up a combined 47 direct goal contributions in merely 36 games across all competitions this season.

In the Premier League, he has scored 23 goals and provided 14 assists in just 25 appearances, easily setting him up as the best player in the league currently.

Markus Babbel believes that Salah should clinch the Ballon d'Or award this year while claiming that Lionel Messi is the only player at his level. The former Liverpool man said in an interview with Wette.de (via GOAL):

"I’ve only seen one player on Mohamed Salah’s level with a similar record, it’s Lionel Messi. You look at his goal record and it’s like he’s a number 9; but he’s a winger! He’s not Ian Rush, he’s not Alan Shearer, he plays out wide. It’s unbelievable."

"The goal record isn’t normal; I can only compare him to Messi with that goal scoring power. It’s not just the last season either, it’s the last ten years, his level is truly world class. I’m so surprised that he has never been in the running for the Ballon d’Or, I can’t believe he has never been in the top three – he’s the best player in the world in his position," he continued.

Babbel finished:

"Salah has a real chance to win the Ballon d’Or this year, but I think it will go to a Real Madrid player after they didn’t come to the ceremony this year – he deserves it though."

Mohamed Salah's performances have helped Liverpool dominate the Premier League standings. They have also reached the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

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Liverpool legend compares Mohamed Salah to Lionel Messi and Ronaldo

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has compared Mohamed Salah's situation at Anfield to Lionel Messi at Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid. While his run of form is incredible, Carragher has warned that the Reds are over-reliant on the Egyptian ace.

He said on Sky Sports:

“I suppose it is an over-reliance when someone's having such a good season, that's always going to be the case."

“He's having one of those seasons where you’d see five or ten years ago, Messi and Ronaldo at Barca and Real Madrid, they were probably over-reliant on those players. You're always going to be with someone who's in such a rich vein of form," Carragher added.

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed great individual recognition for their rich form, with the former winning eight Ballon d'Or awards and the latter taking home five. With Mohamed Salah hitting those heights at Liverpool this season, a Ballon d'Or could be on the cards for the Anfield legend.