There was always going to be debate once Jamie Carragher claimed only Thierry Henry sits above Mo Salah among foreign players in Premier League history, and it didn’t take long for two of his old rivals to push back.
For us, that probably says more about Salah’s level than anything else, because once the only names being thrown into the argument are Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo, you’re already talking about the absolute top table of Premier League greatness.
Speaking on Stick to Football via The Overlap, Gary Neville immediately made it clear that he did not agree with Carragher’s ranking of the Egyptian.
“I don’t think so. I think Cristiano. So I’ll start off first. I think Cristiano.”
Carragher tried to narrow the discussion to Premier League years only, asking: “just the Premier League not his Real Madrid stuff?”
Neville’s answer was simple: “Yeah.”
Roy Keane was just as firm, offering no hesitation when asked whether he agreed with Carragher’s view: “I’ll say no.”
When Neville then asked who he had ahead of our No.11, the former Manchester United captain gave the same answer: “Ronaldo. Yeah.”
Salah surely has to be held as above Henry and Ronaldo is we base it on stats? pic.twitter.com/TmFeUCZsbO
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) March 26, 2026
Even if Neville and Keane came down on the side of Ronaldo, the wider point still reflects brilliantly on Salah and what he has done at Anfield.
Carragher recently argued that “only Thierry Henry eclipses Salah’s output and consistency”, while Steven Gerrard also underlined the problem Liverpool now face by saying “they have to be top end, top three or four wingers in the world to replace Mo Salah.”
That’s the real takeaway here.
This isn’t a debate about whether Salah is merely very good.
It’s a debate about whether he belongs alongside Henry and Ronaldo in the very highest bracket of Premier League imports, and based on his numbers, consistency and the way he transformed us under Jurgen Klopp, there is every reason to say he does.
Neville and Keane may prefer Ronaldo. Carragher may prefer Salah.
But the fact our Egyptian King is central to that argument tells you exactly how extraordinary his Liverpool career has been.
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