Former Manchester United midfielder Kleberson has claimed that Mohamed Salah is not currently the best player in the world.
Comparing the Liverpool forward with his ex-teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, the Brazilian has disagreed with the growing consensus that the 29-year-old may now be ahead of his peers.
Salah followed up his goal of the season contender against Manchester City with a similarly outrageous finish against Watford at the weekend, as he danced through the Hornets’ defence.
Kleberson, though, was reluctant to call Salah the best player on his personal list - despite not being able to name a better alternative.
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“Mohamed Salah isn’t the best player in the world, but he’s been consistently brilliant. For a long time now, he’s played excellent football,” the Brazilian told PaddyPower.
“He certainly isn’t a one season wonder and I can understand why Jürgen Klopp called him the best in Europe.
“Things are going well for Salah, but he’s not the best player in the world right now.”
He continued: “For me, it’s tough to say who is the world’s best player because I measure it by those who play well for club and country.
“Football has changed a lot. For many years, we had Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and sometimes Neymar, but there's no one who has shown more than they have.”
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His reticence to praise the Reds forward and continued support of Ronaldo is perhaps unsurprising, given that the pair arrived at Old Trafford together in the same summer.
Consistent injury problems limited Kleberson to 20 league appearances across his two seasons with United, who picked up an FA Cup winner’s medal in his time in England.
However, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has a different opinion to the ex-United midfielder.
“[Salah] is for sure one of the best in the world right now,” the German coach said.
“It’s not about me to say who is the best. But for me he is the best.
“I see him every day and that makes it maybe more easy for me. But there is Lewandowski out there and people like that, Ronaldo still scoring like crazy, Messi still pulling out performances to a world-class level.
“And others will come. But in this moment, for sure he is on top of that list.”
