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Former Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren has criticized retired Nigerian forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni for his comments on the goalscoring ability of Mohamed Salah. The former Nigerian star shared his thoughts on Egyptian ace Salah, who has distinguished himself as one of the finest goalscorers in Europe.
Yakubu featured prominently in the Premier League in the 2000s, playing for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Everton, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough. The striker holds the record for the most goals scored for Portsmouth in their time in the Premier League.
Speaking via FootyEmporium on Instagram, Yakubu said that he believes that Mohamed Salah is not a world-class player and most of his goals are lucky. He said that many African players who have featured in the Premier League enjoyed better careers than the Egyptian.
"Salah is not world class in my opinion. He is not good with the ball and majority of his goals are lucky goals," Yakubu said.
"You cannot say Mohamed Salah is the greatest African to play in the Premier League. Greatest African players in Premier League are Okocha, Drogba, Kanu, Yaya Toure, Adebayor and Sadio Mane," he added.
Croatian defender Dejan Lovren jumped to the defence of his former teammate by commenting on the Instagram post, implying that Yakubu was drunk when he made the comments.
"Clearly he tried some new drinks," Lovern wrote.
Yakubu scored 95 goals in 252 Premier League appearances in his time playing in the English top-flight and is among the leading African scorers in league history. Salah surpassed his tally a couple of years back and has 154 goals in 253 appearances in the Premier League.
Journalist reveals that Mohamed Salah is happy at Liverpool
Fabrizio Romano has said that Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is happy at the club despite speculation to the contrary. The Egyptian forward was the subject of Saudi interest last summer but ignored a move to the oil-rich nation.
Romano said via the JD Football YouTube channel that while Salah may receive further interest in the summer, the 31-year-old remains happy in Merseyside. The forward will not push for an exit even if an offer comes in for him from Saudi after Jürgen Klopp leaves.
“Last summer was more than serious. In the last week of August Saudi put together a £150m package for Mo Salah. Massive respect to Mo Salah because many players would in that position say let me go, but he was super professional and super respectful."
He added:
"The Saudi interest is still there, at the moment there’s no discussion because they are focused on this season. Let’s see what happens in the summer. I’m sure they will try again for Salah, but I’m also sure that Mo is very happy in Liverpool."
Mohamed Salah made Liverpool history this season by scoring his 20th goal of the season against Manchester United in the FA Cup. He became the first Liverpool player to score 20+ goals in seven successive seasons in the club's history.
