Eni Aluko wades into AFCON row after Jamie Carragher brands Rio Ferdinand a ‘clown’ over Mo Salah comment criticism

In response to the controversial remarks made by fellow pundit Jamie Carragher regarding Mohamed Salah and the Africa Cup of Nations, Eni Aluko has expressed her opinion on the matter.

In the aftermath of Liverpool’s historic victory over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium, Carragher made a controversial statement in which he suggested that the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was not a major tournament and would prevent Salah from winning the Ballon d’Or.

Following the claim made by Carragher, there was a significant amount of backlash on the internet from fans as well as his fellow pundits. This resulted in a back and forth between Rio Ferdinand, a former rival of Carragher’s, and the Liverpool legend.

Now, Aluko has made her voice heard in order to express her opinion regarding Carragher’s remarks and Salah’s potential to win the Ballon d’Or in the month of October.

Ferdinand, in response to Carragher’s remarks on his podcast, stated that he believes that they are representative of an ignorant belief that is held by a large number of football fans regarding the quality of the African Cup of Nations and the significance of the tournament to those who are participating in it.

Nevertheless, the legend of Manchester United did concur that even if Salah were to win the African Cup of Nations with Egypt, it would most likely not have any impact on his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or competition.

This prompted Aluko to leave a comment on the podcast that Ferdinand had shared in order to express her thoughts, and she expressed her disagreement with both Carragher and Ferdinand.

Eluko wrote the following in response to the video: “If Erling Haaland won the Ballon d’Or without winning anything with Norway, would anyone bat a single eyelid? When it comes to Mo Salah, why are we even discussing the African Cup of Nations?

It is somewhat controversial that Haaland finished second in the 2023 Ballon d’Or, behind Lionel Messi. This was due to the fact that he had a highly impressive season with Manchester City, which led many people to believe that he should have won the award despite the fact that Norway did not qualify for the Qatar World Cup the previous year.

It would appear that this substantiates Eluko’s assertion that if Salah maintains his current level of performance with Liverpool and the club goes on to win the Premier League and/or a number of other trophies, then he will have more than earned the right to win the Ballon d’Or, regardless of how Egypt performs.

In any case, Salah will find out in October of this year whether he has been successful in claiming his first Ballon d’Or award. This will take place two months before Morocco and Comoros begin the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.