Gary Lineker has thrown Mohamed Salah’s name into the hat for this year’s Ballon d’Or contention. The Egyptian has been pivotal in Liverpool’s Premier League campaign, boasting an impressive tally of 28 goals and 18 assists.
Consequently, Lineker is convinced that Salah’s stellar season should earn him a spot among the nominees for the coveted prize. On The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker commented: “It’s still too early to say obviously, because this is done for the end of the year. So I suppose it does depend who wins the Champions League.
“If PSG goes on to win the Champions League, you’d have to say [Ousmane] Dembele will have an excellent chance of winning it. It doesn’t mean to say you’d rule out Lamine Yamal, or Raphinha, because Barcelona probably does the double.
“Barca has already won the Copa del Rey, is looking very good for La Liga. Yes, there is the Classico coming up, but Barca has got a four-point gap so should be able to hang on, even if it loses that game.
“I think it’s probably brought one or two more players into the equation, possibly even Mohamed Salah – what he’s done this season, definitely has to be in contention. It’s tough to call at the moment, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Somebody might sparkle in the Champions League final and blow us all away. We’ll have to wait and see.”
As Micah Richards mulled over the criteria for the award, Lineker chimed in: “If it was just the best player, it would probably be either Raphinha or Lamine Yamal this season. But it’s not. It also counts what you’ve won.”
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UEFA’s website explains that Ballon d’Or contenders are chosen by an international panel of journalists based on their individual performances, decisive and impressive character, team performances and achievements, as well as class and fair play.
The site further details: “Each juror selects ten players in descending order of merit from a list of 30 established by the editorial staff of France Football, members of the editorial staff of L’Équipe, the best juror from the previous edition and UEFA ambassadors Luís Figo for the men’s trophy and Nadine Kessler for the women’s trophy.
“The ten selected players are awarded 15, 12, 10, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 point, respectively. The Ballon d’Or is awarded to the player with the highest number of points.”
Salah has had an exceptional season, both individually and with his team. He’s poised to clinch the Premier League Golden Boot with his current haul of 28 goals, and he’s already secured his second league title with Liverpool.
Despite a career laden with team honors, the Ballon d’Or remains an elusive accolade for Salah, and even a Premier League title and top goal-scorer award may not tip the scales in his favour this season. This is largely due to Liverpool’s inability to clinch the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Champions League, along with stellar performances from players overseas.
Take last year’s Ballon d’Or recipient, Rodri, for instance. He bagged a Premier League title with Manchester City and the European Championship with Spain, before outperforming his rivals in the voting process. The 28-year-old racked up a whopping 1170 points, surpassing Vinicius Jr’s 1129 and Jude Bellingham’s 917.
