Salah needs trophies to win Ballon d'Or - Slot

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot believes his team need to win a trophy this season for Mohamed Salah to have a chance of winning the Ballon d'Or.

Salah is the favourite to claim the individual prize after enjoying a stellar individual campaign for Liverpool. The 32-year-old has already registered 30 goals and 21 assists in all competitions this season, having scored and assisted in the 2-0 victory over Manchester City at the weekend.

"It's mostly about attackers although the last winner was a midfielder [Rodri]," Slot said, when asked about the likelihood of Salah winning the award.

"It's a good thing Mo is in the discussion as that means he is doing well and that means we are doing well. For him to stay in that discussion he should bring the same performances as he has done for seven or eight months now. In general, someone who wins the Ballon d'Or needs to win something as well.

"That is a great challenge in front of us and in front of him. What I liked a lot is that he takes this challenge with a big goal and assist against City but [his] defensive work-rate the in second half particularly was outstanding and that is what it takes for us to have the chance to win something. If we as a team win something he has a far better chance to win an individual prize like the Ballon d'Or."

Slot added: "It would make his chance only bigger [if we win Champions League] but the last one who won it only won the Premier League. It's not just about the amount of prizes you win, but [players] who won it in the past won the league or Champions League. But football is always like this -- you need team the team to win individual prize and Mo understands that."

Salah broke a number of records with his match-winning display against City, and now has 41 goal contributions (25 goals, 16 assists) in the Premier League this season -- only two away from tying the club record in a single campaign (Luis Suárez, 43 in 2013-14).

Asked whether Salah's form this term is on par with the likes of peak Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Slot said: "It's so difficult to compare players with each other and it's not fair to anyone. Mo has his own career and Mo has been outstanding.

"Messi didn't play in the Premier League, but I don't want to bring him down because he is incredible! But that makes the comparison even more difficult. Mo has had some outstanding seasons at Liverpool and we hope he can continue this for a longer period of time but to do that he has to extend his contract of course."

Salah's deal is set to expire at the end of the season, though there is still an expectation that he will agree a new contract at Anfield.

"You can say the better he does, the more expensive he might become," Slot said. "And if he did worse, we might have second thoughts about wanting to extend his contract! For everyone, it's the best that he brings in the performances that he does now.

"Maybe not for the one who has to play him but for everyone else it's best because if you want to play for this club you need to be at his level. We only need players who are at the top of their game because this is one of the best clubs in the world to play for. He needs to have these performances for him to play here and hopefully to extend here."