Garth Crooks “taken aback” after Mohamed Salah scooped FWA Player of the Year

Garth Crooks has claimed Mohamed Salah was “the popular vote, but not the right one” after the Liverpool superstar won the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year Award.

Salah won the gong for the second time, after receiving 48 per cent of the vote, beating Kevin De Bruyne and Declan Rice, with the Man City and West Ham stars finishing second and third respectively.

The Egyptian has enjoyed another prolific season and has 30 goals in all competitions as the Reds go in search of an unprecedented quadruple. His 22 Premier League strikes also have him in pole position to win the Golden Boot for the third time in five seasons.

But BBC pundit Crooks believes Salah’s Liverpool team-mate Virgil van Dijk actually deserved the award following his remarkable return from injury. The Dutchman missed almost the entirety of last season with a serious knee injury, but has instantly rediscovered his best form, with Jurgen Klopp’s side conceding just 22 times in 34 league games.

Van Dijk’s absence last term was a major factor in Liverpool enduring one of their more disappointing campaigns in recent years and his impact at Anfield is clear for all to see.

And Crooks thinks those performances should have ended with him lifting the award, rather than his free scoring colleague.

“It's not often I disagree with the choice of the esteemed Football Writers' Association but I was rather taken aback by their decision to award Mohamed Salah this year's honour of Footballer of the Year,” he wrote in his BBC Sport column.

The former Tottenham forward described Van Dijk as Liverpool’s best player and added: “He should have won the award. Regular readers will not be surprised by my choice as the Liverpool defender features in my