"20 goals by December is an absolute joke"- Rio Ferdinand says Mohamed Salah's goal tally for Liverpool this season is "out of order"

Rio Ferdinand is in awe of Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, who has already racked up 20 goals in all competitions this season. The former Manchester United defender is surprised at how the Egyptian international has grown in stature over the years.

Asked if he expected Salah to make this much of an impact upon joining Liverpool from Roma in the summer of 2017, Ferdinand admitted:

"No, I honestly didn't. I mean, he obviously went to Chelsea and didn't set the world alight and that's why he had to go on to find a new pathway to get to the level he's at now."

Ferdinand added that while Salah was initially not tipped to become a 'superstar', the 29-year-old has developed into a world-beater in recent years. He explained:

"But there are some players - you look at [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Erling] Haaland, [Kylian] Mbappe - you lay eyes on them immediately. You go, 'They're going to be superstars.' With him [Salah], it wasn't that for me at the beginning. But the way he's grown, the way he's just developed into this player where he's deciding games at will."

Ferdinand went on to exclaim his disbelief at the Liverpool forward's goalscoring record this season by saying:

"20 goals by December is an absolute joke. It's out of order, really."

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"The main improvement has been his finishing" - Michael Owen on Mohamed Salah's Liverpool form

Michael Owen believes Salah's Liverpool form is a reflection of the improvements he has made in his finishing. After an underwhelming stint at Chelsea, the Egyptian moved to Italy before returning to England with Liverpool.

Salah has since been sensational for the Merseyside club, scoring 145 goals in 224 games for the Reds.

Owen, who himself played for Liverpool, said:

"The main improvement has been his finishing. He's always been quick. Rio says we didn't see too much in the early days, but we all saw his pace. What you can do as a finisher, there's a couple of types. There's obviously the instinctive finisher, the runs you can make and the timing of the runs, nicking across a defender when there's crosses coming in, knowing where the ball's going to land, it's all instinctive."

Owen drew experience from his playing career to relate to Salah's Liverpool form and said:

"What he's improved is his actual finishing. Normal finishing is about actual repetition, it's about being in positions all the time. I learnt it when I was growing up, I think he's learnt it later in life because he's almost being put in the position [to score] a lot of the time now."

The former Liverpool striker concluded by saying:

"I learnt early in life, just by getting 10 chances every game, in U9s, what finishes work for me... because of repetition, I knew what worked for me in certain areas. And we've seen him almost learning on the job. He was a poor finisher, an average finisher, early in his career at Chelsea. And he's just got better and better. That, for me, is repetition."

Salah was once again on target last night as Liverpool came from behind to beat AC Milan 2-1 in their final Champions League group stage fixture.