Mohamed Salah has received praise from the legendary Pele after the Liverpool forward was crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year.

Jürgen Klopp presented the award to Salah at Melwood on Monday, with the Egyptian beating off competition from Reds teammate Sadio Mane, plus Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Naby Keita and Victor Moses, to land the accolade.

Salah has, of course, made a blistering start to his Liverpool career, netting 19 times in just 24 appearances since his summer transfer from AS Roma, while he also inspired his country to their first World Cup finals since 1990 by scoring twice - including an injury-time penalty - in their 2-1 victory over Congo in October.

And Pele, a three-time World Cup winner considered by many observers to be the finest player in history, has taken to social media to pay tribute to Salah’s achievements.

Replying to the No.11's tweet expressing his pride at winning the prize, the Brazilian wrote: “Parabens, @22mosalah! It's been an incredible year! Keep going and I look forward to seeing you play on the greatest stage next year - the World Cup.”