Essien Hails ‘Fantastic’ Salah

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has eulogized Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Salah for his performance in the English Premier League.

The Egyptian winger has been in terrific form for Liverpool this season, scoring 31 goals to equal the league’s record of most goals in a season.

Following his superlative displays for the Reds, Salah who is the reigning African Player of the Year added to his bag of awards after he was named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year.

“He is a fantastic player. It didn’t work out at Chelsea at a young age, but what he has done at Liverpool is amazing,” Essien told KweséESPN.

“Being an African, I take a lot of pride in the fact that another African has emerged as such a big star in the PL. Mahrez did it too, but it’s not just those two. Sadio Mane has done fantastically too in helping to project the reputation of African players strongly by the way they’ve played,” he added.

The Ghanaian also acknowledged the performances of other Africans in the English Premier League. Algerian forward Riyadh Mahrez won the same award in the 2015/16 with the likes of Sadio Mane and Yaya Toure also putting up some excellent performances.

“Mahrez did it too, but it’s not just those two,” said, Essien.

“Sadio Mane has done fantastically too in helping to project the reputation of African players strongly by the way they’ve played.”

He is expected to lead Liverpool in Tuesday’s UEFA Champions semifinals clash against his former side AS Roma.