A debate flared up in recent weeks around Mohamed Salah's status as a world-class player.
Even one of Liverpool's former icons Graeme Souness has criticised the forward, believing that he's playing his last games at Anfield.
So, it's a bit surprising when the person standing up for Salah is a former Man United player.
"Can I just say something about Mo Salah," Rio Ferdinand said on his Vibe With Five YouTube show. "I think he’s been disrespected recently.
"I’ve seen a lot of comments about him, I’ve seen people talking about him, caning him.
"I don’t think there’s been a debate that Mo Salah has been world-class for a number of years. Maybe this season he’s tailed off but in his pomp years at Liverpool, absolutely world-class.
"Real Madrid only win that Champions League final [in 2018] because he came off injured. Up until that moment he came off injured Liverpool were on the front foot, as soon as he came off everything changed.
"His numbers are flipping off the charts, I don’t understand it, it’s unbelievable. Mo Salah I think has been so disrespected.
"I saw Graeme Souness, Troy Deeney and Simon Jordan on their new podcast, I couldn’t believe the disrespect I was seeing about him, I couldn’t believe it, they were talking about him like he’s just any guy.
"I think he’s been absolutely world-class, you can’t do those numbers. They’ll sit there and say, ‘Harry Kane’s world-class over the years’. Mo Salah’s numbers will be similar to Harry Kane's over the last six or seven years but Mo Salah has been winning things, he’s won a league, the Champions League, trophies across the board while doing that.
"I don’t know how you can debate if Mo Salah has been world-class at any point in his career at Liverpool, it’s off the scale to even question him, I don’t care, it’s mad, he’s won trophies, he’s the player who decides games for them consistently and he has done it at the top level."
