Mohamed Salah 'political reasons' claim made as Liverpool urged to agree Barcelona transfer

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Mohamed Salah finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or awards last month as PSG's Ousmane Dembele took top spotRyan Babel believes Mohamed Salah was denied the 2025 Ballon d'Or award due to "political reasons". And the former Liverpool star believes Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong would be an ideal addition to Arne Slot's squad.Salah finished fourth in last month's Ballon d'Or awards with Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele scooping the prestigious gong.Dembele finished ahead of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, his PSG team-mate midfielder Vitinha and then the Egypt international, who was not part of the Liverpool contingent present at the Theatre du Chatelet on the night in the French capital.READ MORE: Arne Slot Liverpool coaching staff have just got what they need after 'unforgiving' reminderREAD MORE: FSG have already given game away about Liverpool intentions as next step clearSalah scored 34 goals in all competitions last season, including 31 in the Premier League as the Reds breezed to the title by 10 points.Liverpool's last-16 exit to PSG on penalties in the Champions League, however, likely counted against him in the overall voting.Babel, though, thinks Salah deserved to be crowned the winner for 2025 and in an interview with 365scores, the ex-Netherlands international questioned why the Reds No.11 missed out."I don't know why Mohamed Salah didn't win the Ballon d'Or," said Babel, who played for the Reds between 2007-2011.."Maybe he lost it for political reasons?

But in my personal opinion, he really deserves it, based on what he has done with the team in the past period."I think Frenkie de Jong is a Barcelona midfielder who can add a lot to Liverpool, he's a world-class player, and any team will be lucky to have him, I hope to see De Jong with Liverpool one day."On Slot and his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, Babel added: "I think coach Arne Slot has proven that he has added great value with his distinctive style of play with the team, he won the Premier League title last season, and now he has to continue to build and develop, he has a great personality and a different distinctive style."The two coaches cannot be compared to each other, because Slot only started his second season with Liverpool, while Jurgen Klopp spent several seasons, it is possible to judge Slot when he spends longer, so we have to wait several years to do a fair analysis."No-one knows exactly what is the reason behind the [recent] decline in the performance and results of the Liverpool team in the recent period, but it is normal for the team to go through a difficult season after a successful and big season"We have to wait for a new period to see if the team will get through this ordeal or not. But I am confident that they can come back and improve their performance."Babel scored the winning goal for Liverpool Legends on Saturday as they beat their Chelsea counterparts 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.