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Ryan Babel has suggested that "political reasons" may have been behind Mohamed Salah's failure to secure the 2025 Ballon d'Or award. The former Liverpool star also expressed his belief that Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong would be a perfect fit for Arne Slot's squad.
Salah, who had an impressive run last season with 34 goals in all competitions, including 31 in the Premier League, finished fourth in the recent Ballon d'Or awards. Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele took home the coveted prize.
Dembele was ranked higher than Barcelona's Lamine Yamal, his PSG teammate Vitinha, and then the Egyptian international, who was absent from the Liverpool team present at the Theatre du Chatelet on the night in Paris.
Despite Liverpool's triumphant Premier League campaign, where they clinched the title by a comfortable 10-point margin, their last-16 exit to PSG on penalties in the Champions League may have influenced the overall voting.
Babel, however, believes that Salah should have been crowned the 2025 winner. In an interview with 365scores, the ex-Netherlands international questioned why Liverpool's No. 11 missed out.
"I don't know why Mohamed Salah didn't win the Ballon d'Or," said Babel, who played for Liverpool between 2007-2011. "Maybe he lost it for political reasons? But in my personal opinion, he really deserves it, based on what he has done with the team in the past period.
"I think Frenkie de Jong is a Barcelona midfielder who can add a lot to Liverpool, he's a world-class player, and any team would be lucky to have him. I hope to see De Jong with Liverpool one day."
On Slot and his predecessor Jurgen Klopp, Babel added: "I think coach Arne Slot has proven that he has added great value with his distinctive style of play with the team, he won the Premier League title last season, and now he has to continue to build and develop, he has a great personality and a different distinctive style.
"The two coaches cannot be compared to each other, because Slot only started his second season with Liverpool, while Jurgen Klopp spent several seasons, it is possible to judge Slot when he spends longer, so we have to wait several years to do a fair analysis.
"No-one knows exactly what is the reason behind the [recent] decline in the performance and results of the Liverpool team in the recent period, but it is normal for the team to go through a difficult season after a successful and big season".
"We have to wait for a new period to see if the team will get through this ordeal or not. But I am confident that they can come back and improve their performance."
Babel scored the winning goal for Liverpool Legends on Saturday as they beat their Chelsea counterparts 1-0 at Stamford Bridge.
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