Mohamed Salah, who has enjoyed an incredible start to the 2024/25 season, racking up 16 goals and 11 assists to help Arne Slot’s Liverpool open up a six-point lead at the top of the table.
The 32-year-old striker has excelled in Liverpool’s cup matches, scoring three goals and providing four assists, as the Merseyside team competes for trophies on four different fronts.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding his long-term future at Anfield, Salah continues to impress and will be eager to add to his remarkable statistics when the Reds face West Ham this weekend.
Players like Virgil van Dijk, Martin Odegaard, Cole Palmer, and Bukayo Saka have also had impressive starts to the season and are among the bookmakers’ top picks to win the PFA Player of the Year award, last won by Phil Foden.
But ex-Manchester United and England defender Ferdinand believes Salah has been a cut above the rest this campaign, stating on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast: ‘I’d go Salah. I think Palmer and Saka are close seconds.’
On his signing of the season, Ferdinand said: ‘This is the worst Premier League signing of the season ever!’
Ferdinand added: ‘I think we should move on from that, I think it’s terrible.
‘It’s a poor selection. No disrespect to the players but there’s been no one like, “Wow!”, who jumps off the page and has been outstanding.
‘Last season it was Cole Palmer…’
One of Ferdinand’s guests on the podcast, Owen Hargreaves, agreed that Salah was the best player at this stage in the Premier League, arguing that it was ‘not even a debate’.
‘I’m going to say Mo Salah and I’ll say Cole Palmer a close second,’ the former Manchester United, Bayern Munich and England midfielder said.
‘I think to be the best player, you’ve got to be in the top team, within reason.
‘I’m basing it on the fact that Liverpool are top of the league and his output is better than anyone’s goals and assists.
‘I’d say Cole Palmer is just behind… Bukayo Saka.
‘[Moises] Caicedo could be the most improved player, but if we’re going best player right now… it’s the team that is first and he [Salah] has got the best numbers. It’s not even a debate.’
