Fabio Cannavaro: Mohamed Salah would have beaten me if we had faced each other

Fabio Cannavaro says Mohamed Salah had the ability to dribble past him if the pair had come up against one another during the former Italy captain’s playing career.

Cannavaro, the former Real Madrid defender, praised Salah’s development and described the Egypt forward as one of the best attackers in world football.

“When I saw Mohamed Salah at Roma, I liked him very much, and I also admired him at Fiorentina because he had great talent and quality,” Cannavaro told ON Sport.

The former Italy captain said Salah had made significant progress under Jurgen Klopp, becoming a more complete player capable of contributing in both attack and defence.

“Mohamed Salah developed a lot with Jurgen Klopp,” Cannavaro added. “With him, he learned to defend and attack, and reached a level of perfection. He could control the ball, had great pace and became one of the best forwards in the world.”

Cannavaro concluded: “Mohamed Salah could have got past me if I had played against him.”

Salah played in Italy for Fiorentina on loan from Chelsea before moving to Roma. He then joined Liverpool, where he spent nine seasons, before moving to Turkish club Trabzonspor at the start of the current season.