Mo Salah’s odds on landing the Ballon D’or have been cut after he was crowned Player of the Year in England.
The Liverpool forward has enjoyed a spectacular debut campaign at Anfield, since his summer move from Roma.
The Egyptian star has become on the third Liverpool player in history to score 40 goals in a season, following on from Roger Hunt and Ian Rush and he needs just four more goals to break the Premier League record for goals in a season – currently held by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
Already African Player of the Year, he added the PFA crown over the weekend, and now Bookmakers feel he is firmly in contention to win the biggest prize of them all – the Ballon D’or.
No Liverpool player has taken the honours since Michael Owen in 2001, but he would also have to smash the monooply that Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have on the award – nobody but one of them has won the award since 2007, when Kaka took the honours.
But Salah is now just 3/1 with PaddyPower to win the award having been 100/1 in January, and is now just behind Messi at 2/1 and Ronaldo at 5/4.
Spokesman Paddy Power said: “Mo Salah cemented his place in Liverpool fans’ hearts again with his POTY win, but now we’ve been forced to slash his Ballon D’Or odds too.
“Could he do the unthinkable and brush Messi and Ronaldo aside? Well, he didn’t get the nickname ‘The Pharaoh’ from nowhere, now.”