Klopp: I don’t think Salah or anybody else wants to be compared with Messi

LIVERPOOL forward Mohamed Salah is on his way to reaching the elite level of Lionel Messi but has no interest in being compared to the prodigious Barcelona striker, manager Jurgen Klopp has said.

Salah, 25, struck four goals in Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of Watford that lifted them back into third place in the Premier League on Saturday.

The Egypt international moved to 28 league goals, four goals clear of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot. He has 36 in all competitions this season, the most by a Liverpool player in a debut campaign for the club.

Asked about the similarities in Salah, pictured, and Messi’s style of play, Klopp said: “Mo is on the way, that’s good. I don’t think that Mo or anybody else wants to be compared with Lionel Messi.

“He (Messi) has been doing what he’s been doing for what feels like 20 years or so... the last player I know who had the same influence on a team performance was Diego Maradona.”

The last player to score four goals in a Liverpool shirt was Messi’s current strike partner at Barcelona Luis Suarez.

The Uruguay international netted a first-half hat-trick before adding another after the break in a 5-1 league victory over Norwich City in 2013.

Meanwhile, Everton manager Sam Allardyce believes the extra work put in by striker Cenk Tosun in recent training sessions has helped him adjust to the demands of the Premier League and sharpen up as a target man.

The 26-year-old has been a different player since Everton’s warm weather training camp in Dubai last month scoring four goals in his last three league games including a double in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over 10-man Stoke City.

“... In Dubai, do the extra training he’s done, we’re seeing the full benefits of that now,” Allardyce told the club’s website. – Reuters