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Former Liverpool defender-turned television pundit Jamie Carragher has named two players who can take over from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The former Liverpool defender insists that Ronaldo and Messi will go down in the history of the game as two of the greatest of all time. However, he believes that it is time for the torch to be passed on.
Carragher named the two players he believes in to carry the legacy of the two iconic footballers. The 44-year-old believes Mohamed Salah and Kylian Mbappe will be dominating the game in the years to come.
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The likes of Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema were all snubbed by the former England defender. Carragher told Sky Sports Football:
"I think the toss-up for me would be Mohammed Salah and Kylian Mbappe. They would be the two that would split people now, the way Messi and Ronaldo have split people for so long.”
Carragher believes that Mohamed Salah is by far the best player in the Premier League. The 44-year-old feels that although Kylian Mbappe is playing in an inferior league, he has the quality to dominate the game for many years. According to Carragher, the Frenchman will be challenging Salah for Ballon d'Or. He said:
“I think the season Mo Salah’s having, the numbers he’s got compared to anyone else in the Premier League, which is the best league in the world right now, I think just shows how far ahead he is of everybody in the Premier League."
“With Mbappe, we see the French league is a level down but he’s doing the Champions League. His performance against Real Madrid in the first leg just tells you how special this guy is, a World Cup winner already and it will be interesting to see where he’s playing his football next season.”
Mbappe has scored 25 goals in 35 appearances for the French giants this season. Meanwhile, Salah has scored 27 goals in 34 appearances, winning the League Cup in the process.
Replacing Messi and Ronaldo is a near-impossible task
Given what Messi and Ronaldo have achieved over the years, it is hard to imagine that anyone could ever reach their levels. Salah and Mbappe have been brilliant for their respective sides Liverpool and PSG in recent times.
However, there are a number of players Carragher did not mention and the most glaring omission is Erling Haaland. The 21-year-old has had a stupendous goalscoring record so far in his career. He has already scored 80 goals in 79 appearances for Dortmund in the Bundesliga. Haaland could potentially go on to become one of the best strikers ever to grace the game.
Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema also deserve a mention despite the fact they are in their mid-thirties.
