Liverpool legend John Barnes has claimed that his former club’s star attacker Mohamed Salah would struggle to replicate the type of form he has shown for the Anfield club if he moved to the Bernabeu.
The Egyptian international has been a revelation for Jurgen Klopp’s side since his £38 million summer move from Roma last summer.
Salah has scored a sensational 37 goals in all competitions so far this term , and looks set to win the Premier League golden boot despite not even playing as a central striker.
The 25-year-old’s exploits have inevitably lead to links to Spanish giants Real. Although former Red’s captain Barnes believes that Salah would struggle to perform at the same level for Los Blancos as their team would not be set up to maximise his strenghts in the way that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side are.
“How Jurgen Klopp sends his team out gets the best out of Mo Salah,” Barnes told the Mirror.
“So if Mo Salah plays for another team I don’t think he’d do as well because, while he’s a great player, he’s actually found the right environment for him to maximise his potential.”
Barnes, who made over 400 appearances for Liverpool between 1987-1997 used the example of Manchester United attacker Alexis Sanchez to show how a top player can struggle if a team is not set up to maximise his potential.
“Alexis Sanchez in my opinion is an excellent player, equally as good as Mo Salah, but he’s not showing what he can do because he’s playing for a team that probably doesn’t get the best out of him,”
“That’s not to say he’s a bad player, it’s just the way Jose Mourinho sends his teams out, in my opinion, doesn’t get the best out of Alexis Sanchez.”