Salah needs to play 15 more years to match Ronaldo, Klopp insists

The Liverpool gaffer, Jurgen Klopp, said that his star man Mohamed Salah has a long way to go until he can be compared to Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Salah joined Liverpool and marked his debut season with an astonishing record breaking 32 Premier League goals, scoring 44 goals overall. Salah already won individual awards such as the Golden Boot, PFA Players’ Player of The Year and FWA Footballer of The Year, courtesy of his excellent display for Liverpool this season.

However, Klopp insisted that Salah needs to play 15 more similar seasons to match the achievements and crazy statistics of Ronaldo.

“Mo had a fantastic season, but Cristiano has played 15 seasons like this,” Klopp said. “He has scored something like 47,000 goals – crazy numbers.”

Ronaldo, who has won five Ballon d’Or trophies, four European Golden Shoe, four Champions League Titles, two La Liga crowns and three Premier League titles among many other trophies, is a long way ahead of Salah statistically. The first of his five Ballon d’Or trophies and the first of his Champions League trophies came during his Manchester United stint – as he proved his capabilities one of the top leagues in the world, before he moved to Real Madrid to win four more Ballond’ors.

Klopp insisted Salah should not be compared with Ronaldo or Messi, the two greats of this generation as he has a lot to prove to be on the same page as the two geniuses of football.

“Why should we compare? At the time of Pele nobody compared Pele to other players and asked, ‘Is he as good as him?’ Now we have Lionel Messi and Ronaldo, who have dominated football for a few years.

“Messi and Ronaldo are, in the final moment, very often in the right position to score a goal – and that's the most difficult thing to do in the world.

“That's why they are where they are. The Ballon d’Or is always between them. It’s deserved. When they stop playing football we’ll miss them, 100 per cent. I don't have to make these kind of stories about Salah and Ronaldo,” Klopp expressed.

“It's not about having the better individual. Usually, it's about playing the better football – and, for that, you need all the other players as well.” Klopp added.

Real Madrid and Liverpool are set to face each other in the Champions League Final on May 26 at Kiev – a game which might determine the winner of next Ballon d’Or.