"I was rather taken aback" - Garth Crooks names Liverpool star who should have won Football Writers' Association's Footballer Of The Year award instead of Mohamed Salah

BBC pundit Garth Crooks believes Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk should have won the Football Writers' Association's (FWA) Footballer of the Year award over Mohamed Salah.

The 29-year-old winger was named Footballer of the Year ahead of Kevin De Bruyne and Declan Rice. However, Garth Crooks does not completely agree with the FWA.

Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Crooks was quoted as saying the following:

"It's not often I disagree with the choice of the esteemed Football Writers' Association but I was rather taken aback by their decision to award Mohamed Salah this year's honour of Footballer of the Year. The Liverpool striker is a superstar - of that there is no doubt - and he has had an impressive goalscoring season."

Garth Crooks also provides the reasoning behind why Mohamed Salah was awarded the Footballer of the Year award over van Dijk. He added:

"However, Liverpool's best player and, in my view the Reds' player of the season, is Virgil van Dijk. He should have won the award. That's because Van Dijk is unquestionably the best defender in the world but he does not attract the same attention as Salah because it's the Egyptian who scores the goals."

Virgil van Dijk has had yet another solid reason for the Reds. The 30-year-old defender has made 46 appearances and has been ever-present in defense, missing just two Premier League games.

Van Dijk has remained constant at the back. Jurgen Klopp has partnered the Dutchman alongside Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez but van Dijk has gelled nicely with all of them.

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Mohamed Salah has once again starred in front of goal for Liverpool

Mohamed Salah's contribution to Liverpool this season has been immense. The 29-year-old winger is currently the club's leading goalscorer, having scored 30 goals in 45 appearances across all competitions. The former Chelsea and AS Roma star has also provided 14 assists this season.

It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian star is currently atop the Golden Boot leaderboard in the Premier League. He has so far scored 22 times in the league and is three goals ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min.

Despite having a great season, the Egyptian's long-term future at Liverpool is still in doubt. As things stand, the 29-year-old winger has less than 18 months remaining on his contract.

Right now, there has been no development in the negotiations between the club and the player.