Salah is NOT world class… but I can name five players who are, says Troy Deeney

I HAVE received some criticism this week for some comments about Mohamed Salah – so let me talk you through it.

I claimed that Salah is NOT world class.

The Liverpool player is a brilliant winger, his goalscoring numbers are incredible and he has achieved some truly amazing things at the club.

But world class? No.

Let me make this clear: this is not a personal attack on Salah. I think he's a top player and a great guy.

I have played against him a lot in my career and can appreciate how good he is.

But are you trying to be everyone's friend? That's not my bag. I'll tell it like it is.

In general, this is about the term 'world class' as a whole – what does it actually mean and when can we use it?

Firstly, it is a very clear way to describe a footballer.

It's not like The Masters when you get your green jacket and are champion of Augusta forever, no matter how poorly you play afterwards.

It's something that takes ages as a player to earn and probably lose for half a season, and then the fight to get it back begins again.

Some players – great players – have struggled to achieve that title during their careers.

Gary Neville is one of the most decorated full-backs of all time, but we all considered Roberto Carlos or Cafu to be a level above that.

But if I had Neville's career behind me, would I care if someone said I wasn't world class? Of course not.

No player is safe from falling out of this subjective, idiosyncratic category, but there is always a way back.

For example, I would say that someone like Kylian Mbappé is NOT world class right now either.

An incredible player, who has won a lot, made his big move to Real Madrid this summer, but his form is not at the level of previous seasons.

To earn and maintain that world-class title, I believe you must be able to transcend your entire team, transcend the game – not simply by having the most shirt sales, but by being able to single-handedly lift a club to victory consistently .

Can Mbappé become world class again at the age of 25? Certainly. But for now, he still has some work to do.

As for Salah, you can look at his stats – 165 Prem goals in 274 games – and say this and that, but ultimately it's about what he brings to the team and the impact he has season after season, not just in certain matches and moments.

I was at the end of a lot of beatings at Watford when Salah was great for Liverpool.

But as we prepared to face them, it wasn't just a case of 'stop Salah and you win'.

It was a lot more difficult when they also had Sadio Mane in the team, who in my opinion was more effective than Salah during that period.

And if we were to base this purely on numbers and goals, Bruno Fernandes would be one of the best midfielders in the world, but he isn't.

Do you see where I'm coming from?

I remember Graeme Souness once telling me his theory on whether you were world class, which was based on whether you could face a starting XI in world football.

With that in mind, here are the five players currently playing in world football who, to me, could be considered world class – who could walk into any team in the world and start:

All this being said, it's just my opinion. Someone can turn around and tell me I'm wrong, and that's absolutely fine.

And if Salah is concerned about what I think, then he is certainly not world class.