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Top Guns Hail Liverpool Ace Mohamed Salah After BBC Africa Best Award

By ghanasoccernet.com
Sports News Top Guns Hail Liverpool Ace Mohamed Salah After BBC Africa Best Award
DEC 13, 2017 LISTEN

Top football figures have hailed Mohamed Salah's capture of a highly coveted trophy after the Egyptian was named the BBC African Player of the Year insisting the Liverpool star thoroughly deserved the award.

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba and Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp have praised the decision to give the Egyptian striker the award for his heroics for AS Roma, his current English club and his national team.

Salah won the esteemed BBC African Player of the Year grant on Monday, rewarded for 2017 stuffed with shimmering shows for Liverpool, Roma and his national team and now Coral enhanced odds are among the bookies predicting another title for the Egyptian next year.

The 25-year-old star bested the poll that saw a record number of votes cast in the wake of leading Egypt to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and practically without any help taking Egypt to their first World Cup finals since 1990, scoring five and setting two in the qualifiers.

Salah, the Premier League's best scorer with 13 goals, likewise scored 10 times in all games for Serie A club Roma in 2017 before making the move to Liverpool.

Fans voted in record numbers to name Salah the champ from a five-man shortlist, with the present Premier League top-scorer chosen ahead of Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Guinean and future Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, current Liverpool partner Sadio Mane of Senegal and Nigeria's Victor Moses.

Salah was the focal figure for Egypt as they reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in February before his heroics for his clubs which has drawn praise from the Liverpool boss.

'It's well deserved,' said Jurgen Klopp.

'I am a really lucky person. I had the opportunity to work with a few outstanding players and I am happy that it is now with Mo.

"The good thing is that he is still young, there is a lot of space for improvement, a lot of potentials still that we can work on, but that's how it should be. It's a big pleasure, to be honest, to work with him.'

Drogba who played with Salah at Chelsea before the Egyptian was sold to Italian side Roma hailed the career progress of the striker.

"He's becoming a boss and a leader we've seen it in the national team and seen it at Liverpool," Drogba told BBC Sport.

"I can tell by his celebrations that he knows what he's doing now, he's not going crazy but just sticking his tongue out to say 'yeah it's me'."

The Ivorian trusts Salah's qualities will be key for Egypt at six months from now's World Cup in Russia.

"He can bring a lot of his leadership and his experience, that he is learning at Liverpool and with the national team [to the team in Russia]," he continued.

"You know for him playing in a lot of big competitions will help him to be among the best players in Europe and during the World Cup

"Mo Salah on his own cannot win the World Cup but if all his teammates are at the level the continent expects them to be, then Mo Salah can be a fantastic player and be one of the stars in this competition."

Drogba, who is presently part-owner and player with Pheonix Rising in the second tier football in the USA, has been inspired with the 25-year-old's career progress.

"He's unpredictable he can dribble past you easily and he has got stronger and he can score goals," Drogba added.

"There was a time when he was texting me: "I don't score, I don't know why," I said, "It is just a matter of time and confidence."

"When you have the confidence everything can happen and you can see now that he is scoring goals.

"I saw how he improved through the years. He had to go to Italy to perform and then come back to England show that he is the player we always believed he was.

"What he has done with the national team as well being able to qualify the country in a very difficult game I think he deserves it."

Salah joins a high profile list including Abedi Pele, George Weah, Jay-Jay Okocha and Didier Drogba, to have won the BBC African Footballer of the Year prize.

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