Salisu named man-of-the-match in Southampton's draw against Man City
Salisu tops most interception list in EPL
Ghanaian defender, Mohammed Salisu is having an incredible second season at Southampton in the English Premier League.
Southampton completed a £10.9m deal for Salisu in the summer of 2020. The defender penned a four-year deal with the English side from Spanish club Real Valladolid.
During his first season, he made just 12 appearances for the ralph hasenhuttl side while playing as back up for Danish center half, Jannik Vestergaard.
Salisu picked up the first spot in the defense after Vestergaard completed a transfer to Leicester City.
Unlike his first season, the 22-year-old has played 23 of Southampton's 24 matches in the league.
In October 2021, UK based newspaper ranked him 6th best center back in the Premier league.
Currently, Mohammed Salisu is ranked 18th on the list of players with most blocks so far this season. He has made 16 blocks.
In terms of clearance, the Ghana is ranked 6th on the list with 98 clearance in 23 mathes.
Salisu's great anticipation and good reading of the game has seen him make 58 interceptions, the most by any player in the English first tier.
Moreover, he has made 57 tackles and rank 7th on the chart of players with most tackles.
The former Valladolid appears to have an intimidating figure, standing 6 feet 3 inches tall. His height and physique make it difficult for strikers to beat him in an aerial duels. He has won 69 aerial duels and as a results ranks 11th on the list of aerial duels won.
Mohammed Salisu despite his impressive performance has kept just four clean sheet this season.
His best performance so far this season came at in 1-1 draw against League leaders, Manchester City, a game he won the man of the match award.
Premier League hall of famer, Alan Shearer named the Ghanaian among his team of week 23.
"Man of the match as Southampton stopped the leaders' long winning run. He just blocked everything," Shearer said after the game.
Below is his numbers in the game against City
61 minutes played
100% passing accuracy
100% long passes completed
26 touches
2 clearances
2 interceptions
1 crucial block.
Southampton defender, Mohammed Salisu in action against West Ham United