"He’s special, right up there": James Milner says he's "blessed" as he gets to play with LFC star he's blown away by

James Milner says he feels blessed to play alongside Mohamed Salah as the Egyptian eyes a historic AFCON triumph.

This is as good a time as any to remind everyone that Salah is the best player in the world and he's all ours.

The 29-year-old has 25 goals and 10 assists for club and country this season and has been crucial for Egypt at this year's Africa Cup of Nations tournament. He scored and assisted in the win over Morroco, winning Man of the Match in the process.

Milner, who is in the UK as Liverpool prepare to face Cardiff City in the FA Cup, has made sure to pay special praise to his special teammate.

“​​For me, the last few months, if he’s not [the world’s best], there is someone playing very, very well in front of him,” he said, per Liverpoolfc.com.

“For me, he is right up there – the goals he’s scoring, the numbers he’s putting up consistently, goals and assists.

“Obviously I might be slightly biased – and I’m blessed as well because I get to train with him every day and see how good he is in training as well – but I think he has to be the best over the recent months and hopefully long may it continue.

“He’s special. Some of the goals he’s scoring at times, you just have to stop and applaud them really.”

Egypt face Cameroon on Thursday in the semi-final of the tournament and if they progress, they will either face Burkina Faso or Sadio Mane's Senegal in the final on Sunday at 16:00 GMT.

It would be a fascinating showdown to see the two Liverpool forwards go head to head for such a major honour and if I'm honest, I'm almost dreading it.

Not because I think they have any issues with each other or because I think playing each other in the final could cause any problems but because we already know that the British media loves to create agendas where none exist.