(Video) Darren Bent says Liverpool have an ‘underrated’ genius who deserves more ‘respect’ | OneFootball

Darren Bent has claimed that one prominent player at Liverpool is ‘underrated’ in some quarters and doesn’t ‘get the respect he deserves’.

That might seem like a surprising claim to make about a certain Mo Salah, who in seven years at Anfield has become the Reds’ fifth-highest scorer of all time, with his tally at 212 goals and counting after yet another opening day strike on Saturday against Ipswich.

Speaking with Danny Murphy on The Shortlist for talkSPORT, the former England striker was discussing some of his favourite left-footed players, and LFC’s number 11 received a mention.

Bent said of the 32-year-old: “I’m a big fan of this player – a Premier League great, a Liverpool great. Sometimes you look at his technique and he can look a bit…not pretty on the eyes, at times not the easiest to watch, but when you look at some of the goals that he’s scored.

“Manchester City, one of the best teams in the world, he beats five of them in a six-yard radius. The goals against Watford, Everton, Spurs, Arsenal. The one against City where Ederson smashes it at him; first touch is out of his feet and it just goes back over the goalkeeper. He’s scored so many good goals.”

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The ex-Spurs marksman added: “In some respects he’s underrated. I don’t think Mo Salah, in terms of his finishing and his all-round game and him as a player, gets the respect he deserves.”

It seems bizarre to think that a player of the Egyptian’s phenomenal goal tally could be ‘underrated’, but we agree with Bent that sometimes Liverpool’s number 11 ought to be paid more respect by certain pundits.

Simon Jordan and Graeme Souness both let themselves down over the past 24 hours by questioning the 32-year-old’s world-class credentials and accusing him of being overly theatrical, ridiculous shouts designed purely to get clicks and have their names plastered all over social media.

To us, it feels as if Salah will only get the wider appreciation that he deserves once his time at Anfield is done, but the fans who sing his name every week know full well that they’re watching a legend of his craft whose like might not be seen again at the club for a long time.

You can view Bent’s comments on Salah below (from 10:58), via talkSPORT on YouTube: