‘He might take it as a compliment’: Liverpool icon says Salah is ‘greedy & selfish’ as Egyptian star in talks for mammoth new deal

Though agreeing with Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp that the Egyptian is the best player in the world at the moment, club legend Graeme Souness has branded forward Mohamed Salah 'greedy' and 'extremely selfish'.

Souness was speaking ahead of a Premier League clash between Liverpool and bitter rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford, where victory for the visitors will keep them within a point of leaders Chelsea at the summit. 

Scoring a brace midweek in the Champions League as the Reds beat La Liga holders Atletico Madrid 3-2 at the Wanda Metropolitano, Salah is in the form of his life this season which has led Klopp to beam his charge is currently the best player in the world ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

"He is top. We all see it. Who is better than him? We don't have to talk about what Messi and Ronaldo have done for world football and their dominance," Klopp commented following their last fixture in the English top flight, which was a 5-0 win also away where Salah netted a wonder strike.

"But, right now, he is the best."

Wading into the topic as part of his column in The Times, three-time European Cup winner Souness started by saying: "I agree with Jurgen Klopp that Mohamed Salah has been the best player in the world this season."

On the other hand, however, the Scotsman stated that the Ballon d'Or hopeful is "perhaps as greedy a player as I have seen".

"All the top names have an element of that but he is extremely selfish," Souness pointed out.

"Personal targets are important to him and he shoots from every possible angle, which frustrates his teammates at times – especially Mane. The other players accept it because he is so good.

"When he doesn’t square it, he is either scoring or making goalkeepers work so that the follow-up is a tap-in for someone anyway, which makes it hard for anyone to criticize him.

"He may even take it as a compliment that I think he is the most selfish player I have seen because he is a goal machine," added Souness.

That being said, Souness thinks that the club's owners, the Fenway Sports Group, should do all they can to tie Salah down to a new contract with his current one expiring in 2023.

"I won’t speculate on what he is asking for but Liverpool should give it to him," Souness stressed.

"It is in their interests to pay him as much as they can afford and also for Salah to stay at the club where he has clearly had the best spell of his career."

Despite previously flirting with the likes of Real Madrid, Salah has given Liverpool fans reasons for optimism as per staying on.

"If you ask me, I would love to stay until the last day of my football [career], but I can't say much, it's not in my hands," he told Sky Sports this weekend.

"It depends on what the club want, not on me.

"At the moment I can't see myself ever playing against Liverpool. That would make me sad. It's hard, I don't want to talk about it, but it would make me really sad.

"At the moment I don't see myself playing against Liverpool but let's see what will happen in the future," he signed off.