Troy Deeney torn into over 'most ridiculous comment I've ever seen' about Mohamed Salah

Troy Deeney has been torn into by former Aston Villa defender Ahmed Elmohamady after claiming Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah is not “world class”. Salah has become one of the greatest players of the Premier League era during a seven-and-a-half year spell at Anfield and has helped the Merseyside giants win an array of silverware.

Salah has bagged an incredible 221 goals and 99 assists in 366 appearances for Liverpool since joining the club from Roma in 2017.

And the 32-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down this season as he has already notched 10 goals and 10 assists for the Reds.

Deeney spoke to talkSPORT to share his thoughts on Salah, who has been linked with a mega-money move to Saudi Arabia next summer when his Liverpool contract expires.

And after airing his views, Salah’s former Egypt team-mate Elmohamady wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “This is the most ridiculous comment I’ve ever seen, someone’s looking for attention.”

Deeney has been happy to thrust himself into the limelight by sharing his opinions in recent years. And as the discussion turned to Salah, he explained: “I think Mohamed Salah is excellent, he’s a pivotal part for Liverpool and they should never have let it (his expiring contract) get to this situation.

“But I understand that there’s a financial structure around what they want to try and keep to. My argument has always been that I just don’t think he’s world class.

“But world class is just a different opinion, what I think of world class is would I want my kids to play like that player? That’s what I think is world class.

“If I was asking my kids who want to be forwards, I would be saying I would like them to look at what Vinicius Jr does as opposed to Mohamed Salah.

“His goals that he (Salah) scores, he scores an unbelievable amount of goals – he’s highly effective. But that’s just my opinion.

“He’s probably going to turn around and say, ‘Who the f*** is Troy?’ and fair play to him – but that’s my opinion.”

Salah was instrumental as Liverpool got their hands on their first Premier League trophy in 2020 after helping his team win the Champions League and Club World Cup in 2019. The Egyptian can also boast an FA Cup trophy and three Carabao Cup title successes.

And Deeney added: “Whatever he chooses to do he’s earned the right to do that. And if he decides to not play for Liverpool again, he’ll still be a Liverpool legend.”