Jurgen Klopp hailed "finishing monster" Mohamed Salah after the Liverpool forward was named the PFA Player of the Year.
The Egyptian was confirmed as the winner of the award for the second time in his career on Thursday night, beating the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Kevin de Bruyne to the trophy.
Salah finished last season on 31 goals in all competitions, winning the Premier League Golden Boot and achieving the most assists during the season. Having previously won the prize during his first campaign at the Reds, Salah became just the sixth player to win it twice in the Premier League era; Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer and De Bruyne have lifted the award on two occasions.
During the awards, Klopp spoke about Salah's successes and provided an insight into the striker's performances on and off the field. He admitted that it is the prize every player should want to win.
"What I really love about this prize is that it’s voted for by the players," Klopp told the PFA. "That’s the one prize that you should be interested in. Whatever the supporters say. Your own supporters always say 'you're the great' and all the others say 'how can he win it'.
"So in Mo’s case it’s the numbers, scoring goals. But scoring the most goals and having the most assists, with all the ups and down from a season and all the things I know about football, that’s a deserved win."
Klopp added: "I saw that [how Salah could improve] when we scouted him and I saw a lot of videos of Mo, and he was not the finishing monster that we see now. I was incredibly excited about the chance to work with him. Yes, we spoke, that was a very good talk. But we all need longer to know about a person.
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"The moment I knew it would be outstanding was when I knew him as a person. Because he's full of desire, he never stops developing and he’s a workhorse. I know we say it a lot but he’s really the first in [training] - maybe Millie [James Milner] beats him from time to time - and he’s the last out.
"So treatment, gym work, all these kinds of things. On the pitch, if you tell Mo because of the intensity of the games 'Mo, you go in now. Thank you very much'. [He says] 'I'm good, I'm good'.
"So he deserves it absolutely, and that's why he’s the second time winner of this wonderful trophy. Well deserved, Mo, by the way!"
