MOHAMED SALAH is making Liverpool greats like Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez “look average”, claims Michael Owen.
Salah’s strike in the draw at West Brom was his 31st Premier League goal and his 41st in all competitions.
The 25-year-old’s stunning debut season has made a mockery of the £36.9million the Kop shelled out for him last summer.
And the former Reds hero has been amazed by the Egyptian who arrived on Merseyside with a reputation as a winger, who lacked that killer touch in front of goal.
Owen said in the Daily Mail: “Maybe, as Klopp suggested last week, we shouldn’t be too surprised at the rise and rise of Mohamed Salah.
After all, his stats at Roma were impressive, with 19 goals last season.
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“That said, he is beginning to make me and the likes of Robbie Fowler, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez look average.
And I don’t think anyone predicted he would score 41 goals by now for the club.
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“I didn’t have him down as a natural goal-scorer at the start of the season.
“He was still a little like Raheem Sterling, raw and picking the wrong finish.
“He scored a lot but he missed a lot, too.
“But that chip against City changed my mind.
“With great goal-scorers, their mind works slower when they get a chance.”
Owen, who scored 118 goals in eight years at Anfield has been impressed with Salah’s composure in front of goal.
He continued: “Normal human behaviour when there is an accident, a crisis or stressful situation is to talk faster, breath heavier and panic.
“Being one on one with a goalkeeper clearly isn’t as stressful as a genuine trauma.
“But, in professional terms, it can induce anxiety and provoke similar reactions.
“Yet the best players can repress all of that.
“Most people’s hearts race given a chance like that.
“Salah has perfected the art of seeing the game in slow motion, allowing himself time to pick the right finish, even when the real-time speed is 100mph.”
The forward is in the running for PFA Player of the Year award and was named in the Football union’s team of the year.
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