Mohamed Salah is the ‘best striker in the world’, claims Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger has referred to Mohamed Salah as the ‘best striker in the world’ and credited his ‘confidence, creativity and intelligence’ for setting him apart from the rest.  

The Egyptian forward scored twice during Liverpool‘s 3-2 Champions League triumph over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night and became the first player in the club’s history to find the net in nine successive games. 

Wenger – who made his assessment of Salah before his record-breaking performance at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium – believes the forward developed his skills from playing ‘street football’.  

Arsene Wenger has referred to Mohamed Salah (above) as the ‘best striker in the world’ 

The 71-year-old says that Salah’s background has allowed his to develop an unmatched sense of creativity and confidence. 

He credits that as one of the reasons why Salah can ‘dribble past people’ with ease and ‘score goals that nobody else can’.

Speaking to beIN Sports, Wenger said: ‘He’s top, top class and he’s certainly the best striker at the moment in the world because he scores goals that nobody else can score.

‘You have to play street football to dribble past people like that in a short space. He’s full of confidence and he’s creative.

‘Overall, I believe as well that he is very intelligent because the sign of players that always improve is the intelligence.’

Salah’s performance against Atletico on Tuesday night saw him break Steven Gerrard’s record as Liverpool’s leading goal scorer in the Champions League. 

Wenger credited his ‘confidence, creativity and intelligence’ for setting him apart from the rest

Salah scored twice during Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night. As a result, he became the first player in the club’s history to find the net in nine successive games

The former Liverpool captain and club legend scored a total of 30 goals in the European competition. 

Whereas Salah has now scored 31 goals in the Champions League – despite having only featured 48 times in the competition. 

The Egyptian’s current form has subsequently captured the attention of many and warranted praise from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp. 

Klopp said that Salah was ‘the best player in the world’ following his stellar performance against Watford in the Premier League last week. 

The forward put in a show-stopping performance to help Liverpool win 5-0. He also scored a sensational solo goal in the 54th minute of the game. 

Salah collected a pass from Roberto Firmino on the edge of the box and beat Juan Hernandez, Juraj Kucka and Craig Cathcart to find the back of the net.

Salah broke Gerrard’s record as Liverpool’s leading goal scorer in the Champions League

Salah broke Gerrard’s record as Liverpool’s leading goal scorer in the Champions League

Following the game, Klopp said that Salah was on better form than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.         

The Liverpool boss told BT Sport: ‘His performance was massive today. The pass for the first goal was great and the second goal was special. 

He is top. We all see it. Who is better than him? We don’t have to talk about what Messi and Ronaldo have done for world football and their dominance. But right now, he is the best.’  

Klopp went on to suggest there is more to come from his Egyptian star. He added: ‘Salah is in his age where you can still improve, and he’s doing that constantly. 

‘You saw the first goal that he set up for Sadio today, that is an outstanding pass. He brought that, I don’t know, from the summer break. After that, he started doing these kinds of things.

 Klopp said that Salah is’ the best player in the world’ after his performance against Watford

Klopp thinks Salah is currently on better form than both Messi (left) and Ronaldo (right) 

‘How I said, we don’t have hours and hours and hours to train different things. But the boys improve their game by themselves. 

‘The consistency he delivers, all this kind of stuff, maybe people just now start seeing it – it was always there. He plays for us for five years now but it’s absolutely incredible the way he performs since he’s here. 

‘He’s in the top, top five since he is at Liverpool pretty much. And now he is the best in that moment. 

‘The big thing between Cristiano and Messi was that nobody had a doubt about it for years, but Mo is already on the top level for years as well and there’s still a lot to come from him because of his desire. He just wants to perform on a top-class level.’