After Mohamed Salah was ranked seventh in the voting for the 2021 Ballon d’Or, Jurgen Klopp expressed his surprise and insisted he “definitely should have been higher up.”
Going into Monday’s ceremony, there was little expectation that Salah would be voted the world’s best player, despite journalists and national team managers and captains deciding the process.
Lionel Messi was given the award for a record seventh time, with Robert Lewandowski in second and Jorginho, who won the Champions League with Chelsea and the Euros with Italy, coming third.
Salah was seventh in the voting, with Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Cristiano Ronaldo all considerably higher than him in terms of individual votes.
Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe and Gianluigi Donnarumma rounded off the top 10, with Salah’s placing laughable considering his best-in-the-world form throughout the calendar year.
“Yeah, about his position I was surprised, to be honest,” Klopp reflected in his pre-Everton press conference.
“But it’s not in my hands. I think I saw the votes somewhere, I don’t even know exactly, it’s a journalist vote – don’t ask me, it’s your fault!
“If you think he should be higher up, then you have to convince your colleagues. I’m really not sure about what it is 100 percent.
“I think that you can always give it to Lionel Messi, for the career he has, for the footballer he is, all these kinds of things.
“But if you don’t give it to Robert Lewandowski this time, then it’s quite tricky to get it at all.
“And yes, Mo definitely should have been higher up. That’s it.”
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