“People have been unfair at some point” - Yaya Toure says ex-Chelsea star who 'deserved Ballon d’Or' was better than Mohamed Salah

Yaya Toure recently claimed that Chelsea legend Didier Drogba is better than Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah. He added that the former deserved to win the Ballon d’Or.

In an interview with GOAL, Toure was asked to pick between different African footballers pitted against each other. In the initial pairing, Didier Drogba was pitted with Sadio Mane. Meanwhile, Samuel Eto’o was pitted with George Weah, Mohamed Salah was drawn up against Riyad Mahrez, and Austin Jay Jay Okocha was paired against Yaya Toure.

The former Manchester City midfielder picked his compatriot Drogba over Mane. He found it quite difficult to pick who was better between Eto’o and Weah but eventually picked the Cameroonian. Salah got the nod ahead of Mahrez while opting for Jay Jay Okocha over himself.

In the second round, he picked Drogba over Eto’o and didn’t hesitate to pick Salah over Okocha. Yaya Toure was then left to pick who was better between Didier Drogba and Mohamed Salah. Choosing the better of the pair, Toure said:

''I think at some point people have been unfair at some point. But I think he deserved to win the Ballon d’Or as well, Didier Drogba. Yeah, definitely!’’

Didier Drogba is widely regarded as one of Africa’s greatest-ever footballers, having won multiple Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League with Chelsea. Despite his incredible club success, he never won the Ballon d’Or.

Mohamed Salah, meanwhile, has dominated European football in recent years but has also not won the coveted prize. He's won multiple Golden Boots in the Premier League and helped Liverpool to Champions League and league glory, among other honors.

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Paul Merson says he doesn’t see Mohamed Salah signing a new contract with Liverpool

Former Arsenal player turned pundit Paul Merson has made gloomy prognostications on the future of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool. Merson tipped the trio to leave in the summer if the Merseyside club win the Premier League this season.

Salah, Van Dijk, and Arnold will all have their contracts with Liverpool run out at the end of the season. Refusal to commit to a contract extension means they could leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the season.

So far, there has reportedly been no progress on talks over a new deal for any of them. Merson believes they will leave the club should Liverpool win the Premier League title. He told Sky Sports:

“Call me a cynic, I don’t think any of them sign. I think they wait and see, if they win the league, I don’t know where you go if you’re Liverpool. When Liverpool won the league in Covid it wasn’t the same. You watch them lift the trophy, the Kop wasn’t there, the fans. They hadn’t won it for a long time. If they go and win it this time in-front of their fans...

"I just think Salah, Van Dijk, Trent, they’ve won the Champions League, they’ve won the Premier League in-front of the fans – which will be a lot different believe me – then I don’t see them signing.’’

"Call me a cynic but we're talking 18 months now, they get a pay rise when they sign, they don't sign for the same. That might be 50 grand a week, 50 grand a week over 18 months is a lot of money. For me, I'm not sure they sign if they win the Premier League."

Liverpool lead the league table, sitting six points above second-placed Arsenal with a game in hand.