Liverpool's Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah revealed his love and admiration for Lionel Messi in a recent interview with ESPN while also heaping praises on Messi's Argentina teammate and Liverpool's this season's summer signing Alexi Mac Allister.

"[Lionel] Messi. I love Messi. He is. Messi is Messi; I love [Gabriel] Batistuta as well, I met him once in Argentina and got his t-shirt signed, but yeah, I love Messi," Salah told ESPN Argentina when asked which Argentine footballer he admired the most.

He also spoke highly of Mac Allister, but also poked fun at his Liverpool teammate, saying he needs to work harder in the gym.

"He [Mac Allister] is very good. Overall, he's a good guy, he's trying to improve a lot. He needs a little push in the gym but he's really professional, he looks after himself; the way he eats and practises - he just needs to work in the gym a little bit more but overall he's very good. He does go [to the gym] but in my opinion he needs to go more [laughs]."