Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand thinks Cristiano Ronaldo and Mohamed Salah are more similar in terms of their styles of play than what Rafael Benitez thinks. His comments came out after Benitez ranked Salah over Ronaldo, saying that the Liverpool player is the more complete player.
Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest goal scorer of all time, establishing himself as one of the greatest players of all time. The five-time Ballon d'Or forward has scored 943 goals and 258 assists in 1286 matches across all competitions for club and country.
Despite this, Benitez recently picked Salah over Ronaldo when asked to pick between the two superstars during a segment on the Shoot For Love YouTube channel, saying:
“You talk about attackers, Salah has been consistent for so many years... Ronaldo is the greatest maybe finisher, but Salah is more complete."
However, Ferdinand, who played along with Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United between 2003 and 2009, reckons both players are similar. On his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand Presents, he explained how both players are there to finish the game off, rather than dictating play, saying:
“I actually think they are more similar than what Rafa Benitez thinks. Cristiano Ronaldo has morphed into a player who just is there to finish the game. He’s there to finish things off, get him on the end of a chance [and he will take it]. He can be quiet for 89 minutes and then get a goal out of nowhere. He can score in the first minute and he could be quiet for the rest of the game. But he’s always there for a chance. Always sniffing around, even when he’s not in the game."
He added:
“Is Mo Salah much different to that? Is he a player who takes the running off a game, the momentum of a game? It shifts just because he starts getting on it and comes deep and gets involved in football? Not really.”
On the other hand, Mohamed Salah has cemented himself as one of the best attackers on the wing in Premier League history at Liverpool over the past eight years. The 33-year-old has also added creativity to his game, scoring 246 goals and 114 assists in 405 matches across competitions.