Jürgen Klopp has described Mohamed Salah as “the biggest striker Liverpool have had in modern times”, saying he hopes his former employers will resolve their contract standoff with their talisman and extend his stay beyond this summer.
Salah is in the final six months of his £350,000-a-week Liverpool deal and, by his own admission, progress on agreeing new terms has been minimal. The 32-year-old played under Klopp for seven seasons, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Klopp, speaking during his unveiling as Red Bull’s global head of soccer, made clear his preference about Salah’s next step.
“I hope he stays,” he said. “He’s the biggest striker Liverpool have had in modern times. Obviously there were other really good strikers. He’s a fantastic player, a fantastic human being, an outstanding athlete. The best ambassador your country could have. I hope he stays at Liverpool.”
Klopp, who left Liverpool at the end of last season after nine years, was similarly questioned on the futures of Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. He took aim at continued scrutiny of the right-back, who has been strongly linked with Real Madrid, and laughed off suggestions his former players could be persuaded to join the Red Bull stable.
“I’m so happy I’m not in charge of that situation and dealing with those questions every week,” he said. “I would love all three of them to extend their contracts. They do not tell me what is going on. When Virgil is 41 to 44, I’m sure he’d love to play for New York … I’d welcome him with open arms.
“I’m not sure we could afford to sign Mo. Trent? I still can’t believe that you discuss that he can’t defend. I watched a few press conferences. Oh my God. Yes, he did not play well against Manchester United. Imagine if you made such a fuss of him when he played well as when he did not play well. It would be such a cool planet.”
Heaping praise on the Premier League leaders, now managed by Arne Slot, he claimed not to feel any regret about stepping away. “I’m so happy for them that they do so well,” he said. “There is not a 1% part of me that thinks I should be there. I am more than happy not to be there. I wish them all the best and I watch as many games as I can. They are maybe the best balanced team in the world right now.”
Liverpool won a sole domestic title under Klopp but, should Manchester City be found guilty in relation to 130 Premier League charges of breaching competition rules, it may not be beyond the realms of possibility that they are awarded two more. They twice finished second to City under Klopp during the period being investigated.
Klopp, who said he had not realised a resolution to the case may arrive in the coming weeks, admitted the subject had come up at the end of his time at Anfield. “We had this discussion when I left,” he said. “I haven’t spent a lot of time [at my home] in Mallorca because I’m always flying around the place. If it would happen I told all the people who wanted to just book a flight [to Mallorca]: ‘I will buy the beer.’ Whatever we have to celebrate, we do it. We would have our own parade in my garden. We will see. I didn’t follow it all.”
