Thierry Henry snubs Mohamed Salah to name surprise former Premier League star as favourite for Ballon d’Or – and hints at Liverpool forward’s reliance on penalties
Thierry Henry has overlooked Mohammed Salah as his leading candidate for the Ballon d’Or, with a LaLiga star touted as his favourite for the award.
Salah is currently viewed among the leading contenders for the annual prize following a stunning campaign to date with Liverpool.
The Egyptian forward is enjoying the best personal season of his career having scored 32 goals and provided 22 assists in all competitions for Liverpool.
Salah’s stunning form has helped Liverpool establish a 15 point lead over closest challengers Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
The 32-year-old is seven clear of Erling Haaland in the race for the Premier League golden boot having stuck 27 times, while three shy of the assist record of 20 held jointly by Henry and Kevin De Bruyne.
Henry, however, has suggested Salah is currently behind a former Premier League winger in his list of candidates for the prize.
Thierry Henry has suggested Mohamed Salah should not be the Ballon d’Or favourite
Henry highlighted the importance of Champions League success after Liverpool’s elimination
Henry also raised Salah’s penalty taking, with 11 of his 32 goals coming from the spot
The former Arsenal and Barcelona forward believes Raphinha has currently moved ahead of Salah in the race.
Raphinha, who joined Barcelona from Leeds in 2022, has scored 27 times and provided 19 assists for the Catalan giants so far this season.
The Brazilian forward is the top scorer in this season’s Champions League with 11 goals, while Salah struck three times in the competition.
Henry highlighted Raphinha’s success in Europe, with Barcelona advancing to the quarter-finals, while he also noted the goalscoring tallies of Salah and Harry Kane have been boosted by taking penalties.
While Raphinha has scored just one penalty in all competitions this season, Salah has netted 11 times from the spot.
‘Raphinha is ahead for me now, he is ahead because of what he is doing in the Champions League,’ Henry said on CBS Sports.
‘He has 11 goals in the Champions League. Mo Salah is a great contender for it, Kane is a contender and [Ousmane] Dembele.
‘It depends if you perform in the Champions League, on top of winning your league. Raphinha is on a lot of goals and with only one penalty.
Barcelona star Raphinha has been touted by Henry as being ahead of Salah for the Ballon d’Or
Raphinha scored twice on Tuesday to help Barcelona reach the Champions League last eight
‘I am not saying that Kane and Salah should not be having penalties, Mo Salah is having a season in the Premier League that we will never see again.
‘I am saying that if a guy has virtually the same amount of goals as you guys scored, without penalties, I am not going to say that is bad what you did – it is outstanding – but this guy I have to talk a bit more about him.
‘Raphinha, when people talk about being complete as a striker you need to know about putting on pressure also and defend, and help your full back. And he has it all.’
While Salah and Liverpool suffered a last-16 exit on penalties to PSG on Tuesday night, Raphinha struck twice to help Barcelona ease past Benfica 4-1 on aggregate to reach the last eight.
Barcelona now await the winners of the last-16 tie between Borussia Dortmund and Lille.
Salah will look to help Liverpool bounce back from their Champions League elimination when the Reds face Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
