Recent weeks have seen plenty of talk over who exactly is Liverpool’s greatest player of all-time.

The reason for the renewed chatter is down to two club legends tying their futures to the club beyond the end of the season.

Mohamed Salah went first, agreeing a new contract which will see him get ever closer to becoming the greatest goal scorer in Liverpool’s history.

Then came Virgil van Dijk, who is likely to crop up in any discussions over the best players to pull on the red of Liverpool.

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Former striker Peter Crouch is never going to be in those conversations having only stayed at Anfield for three seasons during his career.

Nevertheless, Crouch developed a real affinity for Liverpool during his time with the club and has now weighed in on who thinks are the Reds’ top three players of all-time.

Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

There are plenty of fans who would argue that if Salah is not already Liverpool’s best ever player, then he will become it over the next two years.

However, according to Crouch, the Egyptian has still not surpassed wither Steven Gerrard or Kenny Dalglish in terms of Liverpool greats.

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“For me Steven Gerrard is a better player than Mo Salah,” Crouch told That Peter Crouch Podcast when asked for his views by former midfielder Steve Sidwell.

“That’s a difficult thing to say that, because the numbers are nowhere near, but I’ve not seen Mo Salah control a game or the amount of games I’ve seen Gerrard control and football isn’t just about scoring goals.”

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“The reason we laud Salah is because it’s the hardest thing to do in football,” added the pundit.

“But when you could do as much as Steven Gerrard could, I would argue that he would sit ahead of Mo Salah for me in the all-time greats.

“Obviously I didn’t see Kenny Dalglish play enough, but from what I’ve heard I think it would be similar and then you’re looking into Mo Salah after those two I would suggest.”

There are Liverpool fans who would disagree with Crouch on this point.

But, in our opinion, he is absolutely right.

There is so much that goes into becoming a legend at a club like Liverpool, and what both Gerrard and Dalglish did for the club on a wider scale will always be difficult to surpass.

AppearancesGoalsTrophies (As player)Steven Gerrard710185Champions League, FA Cup x2, League Cup x3, UEFA Cup, Super Cup, Kenny Dalglish515172First Division x6, European Cup x3, FA Cup, League Cup x4, Super CupMohamed Salah395243Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, Club World Cup, League Cup x2, Super Cup

In terms of matters purely on the pitch, though, Salah could hardly do much more to sit alongside the two greats.

What the 32-year-old is perhaps still lacking throughout all his amazing achievements, however, is a really big moment in a cup final.

Salah scored in the Champions League final in 2019, but it was a third minute penalty.

Gerrard and Dalglish both got big, crucial goals in finals, with the former renowned for coming up trumps when Liverpool needed him most and the latter bagging a European Cup final winner.

If Mo can do that over the next two years, this will become a more difficult argument to make.