Garth Crooks gives his verdict on Liverpool star Mo Salah

Ross Gibson

Garth Crooks has praised Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah for leaving the struggles from his Chelsea career firmly in the past.

The Egyptian made his move to Liverpool in the summer for a £39m fee from AS Roma, as Jurgen Klopp looked to improve his attacking ranks.

Despite an underwhelming spell in the Premier League whilst with Chelsea in 2014, Liverpool opted to take a risk on Salah, which has paid off hugely.

The forward has already bagged 15 goals from 20 appearances, repaying the confidence Klopp showed when forking out such a large fee to sign him.

Former Spurs striker Garth Crooks has been impressed by Salah’s exploits, and spoke of the players improvement since his Chelsea spell.

“I said last week when I selected Salah that his ability to finish was infinitely better than I had first thought,” Crooks told BBC Sport.

“I don’t suppose he had the time or opportunity to really show what he was capable of at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho (although he did score for him) – a bit like Kevin de Bruyne and and Andriy Shevchenko.

“Nevertheless, Salah has put the entire Chelsea experience well behind him with 15 goals this season.

“I can’t help thinking where Liverpool would be if they had a decent defence. Would it be considerably higher than they are now?”

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