By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.comAfter another assist in the recent 2-0 win over Newcastle that sent the Reds 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League, the Egyptian’s record stands at 30 goals and 22 assists in 39 games.No player across the world’s top 15 leagues has more goal involvements in all competitions this season, with the next-closest being Barcelona’s Raphinha with 42.Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, widely considered Salah’s closest contemporary when it comes to world-leading wide forwards, has 31 goals and assists combined – the same number as Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.Mohamed Salah stands a head and shoulders clear of his competition and there should no longer even be a debate over whether he should be awarded the Ballon d’Or when the ceremony is held in October of this year.FotMob average player ratings for the Premier League, 2024/25Not that it should matter; the Ballon d’Or is, after all, an award created by a French magazine and voted for by a select group of journalists, very few of which – if any – have been involved in football in a playing capacity.It remains a subjective honour and the discourse around whether Salah deserves it or not only unmasks that further; objectively, the 32-year-old is the best player in the world at present, but very rarely does that alone earn the prize.The Ballon d’Or is certainly a worthwhile yardstick to measure the pinnacle of the sport, but in an era where everyone’s opinion is magnified it serves more as another echo chamber of popular narrative, an extension of a new footballing fandom led by player allegiance over affiliation to any club. Just like Rodri in 2024, Salah has become the headline name for football in 2025, and that more than anything would win him the Ballon d’Or if it comes to pass.Fortunately, the player himself has not bought into the hysteria and it is the collective he values over everything – rightly so, as he is leading Liverpool into an unforgettable campaign that could see them lift three trophies including the Premier League and Champions League.Salah’s passing numbers, Premier League 2024/25“I think this is my best season because I have made other players around me better. That is what I feel. I know their games,” he told TNT Sports ahead of the victory over Newcastle.“If you look at the numbers of our other players, it will be higher than their previous seasons. My assists are higher this year which shows that I have helped them a lot. Cody and Lucho as well as other players are having their best seasons, better than any other season, so I think this is my best season.”The rivalry between himself and Sadio Mané may have been tense at times but Salah has never been a selfish player, and in only one of his eight seasons at Liverpool has he failed to break the double-digit mark for assists.But this time around his overall game has stepped up even further. There is more of a sense of enjoyment in providing for his teammates, almost to the same level as he takes from one of his own strikes finding the back of the net.Salah shot map, Premier League 2024/25That is because, above all, Salah’s objective in what currently stands to be his final season at Liverpool is to bring the Premier League title back to Anfield.If he accomplishes that, as is now widely expected, the individual honours should come alongside it, but they are rightly considered a subplot.Strangely, the uncertainty over his own future has cast a serenity over Salah and that seems to have resulted in a more expressive player, married to the supreme confidence he has worn since his arrival back in England in 2017.The win over Newcastle served as the prime example, with the Egyptian employing his now signature move of the trivela pass on a number of occasions as he looked to add another flourish to what resembled domination of side among the Premier League’s best.One outside-of-the-boot pass found Luis Díaz at the back post with such precision that the Colombian’s failure to convert it led to open-mouthed disbelief among those in the front rows of the Kop.It was the marker of a player in such outstanding form that he now believes himself capable of pulling off anything – a quality perhaps not seen with such maverick flair in a Liverpool shirt since the days of Luis Suárez over a decade ago.There was some surprise when Suárez himself was not nominated for the Ballon d’Or in 2014, after a season that saw him score 31 goals and lay on 15 assists in 37 games for Liverpool, though the belief was that the Uruguayan’s disciplinary issues may have played a part in his omission.Suárez did not need such accolades to foster the regard with which he is still held by Liverpool supporters, as one of the best and most entertaining players to ever represent the club.Salah season summary at LiverpoolWhile it can certainly be argued that Salah long surpassed that – and he has the trophies to back that up – from a subjective standpoint it is arguably only now that he has eclipsed the Reds’ former No. 7 in terms of sheer enjoyment to watch.That is, of course, in the opinion of this writer, and no doubt others of different vintages will make similar comparisons with the likes of Kenny Dalglish, John Barnes and Steven Gerrard.Salah – who is now in the top three in Liverpool’s post-war history for goals and assists, his combined 350 behind only Ian Rush (429) and Billy Liddell (360) – has more than warranted his status as one of the best ever.He has managed this while driving the club onto unprecedented success, which outstrips any trivial award – even those with the perceived esteem of the Ballon d’Or.(Cover image from IMAGO)To keep up to date with everything Liverpool, make sure you click follow on the team profile in the FotMob app. Download the free app here.