Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has joked that he told Mohamed Salah to score more hat-tricks in order to be considered in the same category as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Salah scored 44 goals for Liverpool across all competitions last season, including an unprecedented haul of 32 in a 38-game Premier League campaign, but those tallies included just one hat-trick.
The Egyptian winger's form so far this season has been called into question, but Wijnaldum is confident that he can thrive under the pressure and believes that his next target should be to collect more match balls.
"I've told him that he's got to get more hat-tricks - I've told him that! He's had enough of scoring twos, he has to get three. I told him I expect more hat-tricks this season! If anyone can deal with pressure, it is Mo. Last season he had pressure when people were saying he had to be the top scorer of the league," Wijnaldum told reporters.
"We told him he couldn't let anyone catch him as top scorer. When he was on 18 goals, he said 'In my head, I can get 32.' Mo is not someone that is scared of pressure. He embraces the pressure. He knows that he can do it. Last year, he only had one hat-trick. So I told him, 'Mo, you are a top player; if you look at Messi and Ronaldo, they score a lot of hat-tricks – you have to do the same if you want to compete with them.'
"I said, 'Mo, it's not only one year' and he said 'You're right!' We were joking but I don't see the difference in him. He still works hard, he still creates chances. I think he had scored one more [at this stage] last season than he has this year. That is the only difference."
Salah has scored three goals in eight appearances for Liverpool so far in 2018-19.
Barney Corkhill
