WWE superstar Sheamus has explained his big problem with the Ballon d'Or as Liverpool's Mohamed Salah pushes to win the title.
The Egyptian ace is up against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski to win the first Ballon d'Or since 2019, with last year's award cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Salah is among the favourites to take the title following another spectacular year at Anfield and could be the first Premier League player in over a decade to take the biggest prize.
However, while Sheamus has waxed lyrical about the ability and the goals scored by Salah, has a big problem with the set-up of the award.
Speaking at a media junket ahead of the WWE tour event in Manchester, where the Echo was in attendance, Sheamus called for significant changes to be made.
“He’s an unbelievable player, one of the best players in the past couple of years, he’s world class. But I have a problem because the Ballon d’Or, I feel like it’s unfair to have just one player getting it," he said.
"If you are up front and scoring goals, don’t get me wrong Salah’s goals are unbelievable, the one he got against Man City and the one the week after, he’s pulling them out, there’s nothing there and he’s scoring these amazing goals.
“There should be a Ballon d’Or for forwards, midfielders, goalkeeper and defender, I think that makes sense. If you’re a centre-back, like Van Dijk or whatever, not like Harry Maguire obviously, you’re a centre-half and you’re killing it but you’re not scoring the goals so the highlights aren’t about you.
“Say Ronaldo scores a penalty, celebrates like he’s won the World Cup, he might have done nothing in the match but that’s all that people see, the camera shots, that’s the back page.
"I feel like you should have a player in every position that gets the award, you can’t compare a world-class striker to a world-class goalkeeper or a world-class defender. It’s very imbalanced.”
