Mohammed Salah Is Key For Liverpool – Wijnaldum

Georginio Wijnaldum has said that Mohamed Salah is in a three-way battle with Kevin De Bruyne and Harry Kane to be crowned Footballer of the Year.

But players cannot vote for their teammates in the PFA award and, speaking before Liverpool played Watford at Anfield, Wijnaldum said: “I haven’t voted yet but, if I had to choose, I would probably vote for De Bruyne or Kane.

“Mo Salah has had a wonderful year, the same with Kevin De Bruyne. Mo has scored a lot of goals, De Bruyne has scored a lot of goals and given a lot of assists.

“They are both very important for their team, so it’s fair enough that one of those two would win it.

“I think Harry Kane could win it also. He has a lot goals this season.”

Salah’s partnership with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino has produced 50 goals for Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool so far.

“They are really good,” Wijnaldum said “Sometimes, you know, they get the credit because they are scoring the goals and make it really difficult for teams, but there are more players who help them to accelerate so they can perform, and a lot of people forget that others do the dirty work so they can attack.

“So as a team, a collective, everybody does it good rather than only speaking about those three.

“Of course they are wonderful. But I think Liverpool is more than Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.

“You need people at the sharp end, but this season the back line has had a lot of criticism, but also a lot times they have done well for us.

“There have been times when we didn’t play well but they saved us in games.

“There is no one who speaks about that because the front three, or the players up front, score the goals and we win. But I think that the defenders also did a good job, so it is something we must not forget.”