Mohamed Salah: Rio Ferdinand Claims Egyptian Has Been Disrespected at Liverpool

• Rio Ferdinand has hailed Liverpool's talisman, Mohamed Salah, as world class
• The Egyptian forward has come under heavy criticism at Liverpool this season
• Salah has netted 25 goals in 42 appearances for the Merseyside club this term

Rio Ferdinand has rubbished claims that Mohamed Salah is not world class and has leapt to the defence of the under-fire Liverpool forward who has faced harsh criticism from fans.

The 31-year-old made headlines for the wrong reasons recently after getting into a touchline bust-up with Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, sparking many of the club's fans and legends to turn on him.

According to GOAL, Manchester United legend Paul Ince had claimed Salah is not world class as he claims the Egyptian forward is not gifted technically to be accorded that respect.

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Former Watford star, Troy Deeney, also echoed the same sentiment after commenting in a talkSPORT podcast that the former AS Roma striker is a tier below the elite level despite his achievements at Anfield, One Football reports.

Salah has scored 25 goals and created 14 assists in 42 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions this season.

Ferdinand defends embattled Mo Salah

Meanwhile, Ferdinand claims that the Liverpool forward has been ‘disrespected’ by those questioning whether he is world class, Metro UK reports.

‘Can I just say something about Mo Salah – I think he’s been disrespected recently. I’ve seen a lot of comments about him, I’ve seen people talking about him, caning him.

‘I don’t think there’s been a debate that Mo Salah has been world-class for a number of years. ‘Maybe this season he’s tailed off but in his pomp years at Liverpool, absolutely world-class.’

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Ferdinand claims the disrespect to Salah has been unkind to the legacy of the Egyptian striker by his fellow pundits.

‘His numbers are off the charts, I don’t understand it, it’s unbelievable. Mo Salah I think has been so disrespected.

‘I saw Graeme Souness, Troy Deeney, and Simon Jordan, I couldn’t believe the disrespect I was seeing about him, I couldn’t believe it, they were talking about him like he’s just any guy.’

Salah ended his eight-game barren spell when he netted in Liverpool’s 4-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday, May 5.

Legends Mohamed Salah has outscored

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that no African has scored more goals or provided more assists than Salah in the English Premier League.

The 31-year-old Egyptian forward has scored 157 Premier League goals. Only nine players have scored more in the league's history.

Salah has outscored the likes of Luis Suarez, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs, Steven Gerard, and Robin van Persie in the English topflight.