Dejan Lovren suggests Liverpool have a player who’s exactly like Lionel Messi
Former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren has hailed Mohamed Salah’s mentality, likening him to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lovren and Salah are notoriously good friends from their three years playing together at Liverpool. So, when the centre-back sat down for a chat with LFCTV yesterday, it was inevitable he would be asked about the Egyptian.
“We’re talking each month every time, at least twice a week we call each other,” Lovren admitted. “We’re really good friends, we tell each other some secrets, not about football. It’s really great to have a friend like that.”
Lovren also gave an insight into just how seriously Salah takes his training regime, comparing him to two superstars of the game.
“You don’t know how much effort he’s putting into his body to be what he is,” raved the 33-year-old. “It’s not just like that that he’s scoring every year 25, 30 goals. He’s putting in really, really hard work. Sometimes after training I’m just sitting on the sofa enjoying, watching TV, and this guy he’s answering from his swimming pool and saying ‘yeah, let me finish my swimming session.’ Mo, you had just training in the morning! ‘Yeah, just let me do it.’ And then you say to yourself, players like him, like Ronaldo, like Messi, this is more than perfection, I don’t know.
“There are not many like him. Like Messi, like Ronaldo. He’s playing for the last five seasons and scoring every year 25, 30 goals. Come on guys, come on. He’s never injured, he’s a winger and he’s scoring more goals than Harry Kane.”
Mo shows his relentless side
After another stellar campaign at Liverpool, Salah is showing no signs of slowing down as he enters his thirties. Okay, it’s true that our No.11 did have a slightly sluggish start to the season. But so did almost all of his Reds teammates.
We know what a physical and mental toll the mammoth season of 2021/22 took on the Liverpool players. And Salah had a bigger burden to carry than all of them.
Not only did he face the heartache of just missing out on Premier League and Champions League glory with the Reds, but he suffered on the international stage, too.
As if losing the AFCON final wasn’t enough, Egypt also failed to qualify for the World Cup last year. Both times Mo lost out on penalties to then Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane. Both times he had to pick himself up and go again.
With all that in mind, it really is amazing to see how Salah has bounced back. Some had declared him to be ‘finished’ after a slow start this year. But as he always does, Mo has roared back to show everyone that he’s nowhere near done yet.
Like with Messi and Ronaldo, you can easily see the Egyptian King carrying on playing deep into his thirties. If he keeps on hitting the numbers he is now until his contract at Anfield ends in 2025, he’s almost certainly going to get another.
And if he can do that, then you might even start to back him to break Ian Rush’s long-standing goal record at Liverpool.
Because it’s Mo, you just can’t put that past him. As Lovren says, these types of players are simply special.
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