Mohamed Salah ‘on the way’ to Messi’s Level

Jurgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah is “on the way” to reaching the same levels as Lionel Messi after the Egyptian scored four goals for Liverpool in Saturday’s win against Watford.

Salah netted his first ever hat-trick for Liverpool as he took his goalscoring tally for the season to 36 in all competitions.

The 25-year-old has scored 28 league goals so far this term — which is more than any other player across Europe’s top five leagues.

When asked whether it was appropriate to talk about Messi and Salah in the same conversation as two of the best players in the world, Klopp told a news conference: “Yeah, I think Mo is on the way. That’s good.

“I don’t think Mo wants or anybody wants to be compared with Lionel Messi. He [Messi] is the one who is doing what he is doing for what feels like 20 years or so. The last player I know that had the same influence on a team performance was Diego Maradona — another Argentina guy.

“Yes, Mo is on a fantastic way — that’s for sure. But how it always in life, if you have the skills then you have to show it constantly.

“His consistency is very good for us; he helps us a lot. The boys love playing together with him [and] he loves playing together with them, so it’s good. You need always in a game somebody who brings the ball over the line.”