Jürgen Klopp has insisted Liverpool’s stance on Mohamed Salah will not change regardless of any fresh bids from Al-Ittihad in the final days of the Saudi transfer window.
Liverpool rejected a £150m offer for the 31-year-old last Thursday and the Saudi Pro League side, one of four clubs backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund, are expected to try again before their transfer deadline on Thursday.
Klopp is adamant that no amount of money will tempt Liverpool to sell in this window and is confident that Salah, who was involved in all three goals in the 3-0 defeat of Aston Villa on Sunday, also wants to stay. Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai said Salah has told the dressing room: “He wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us. We are really happy – we need people in the team like him.”
The Liverpool manager said: “He didn’t tell me but he didn’t have to. He speaks with his training and performances and behaviour. We had meetings this week, and the meetings were not about what we did in the past, it was about what we will do in the future. Mo was with the players’ [leadership] committee and had his moments where he was talking and it was nothing like ‘by the way, this is only until next week’ or whatever. He is completely here and if Dom said that, fine. Mo doesn’t have to come into my office and tell me ‘by the way, boss … [I’m not going]’. For me it wasn’t a subject for one second, to be honest, besides the questions.”
When asked if Liverpool’s position would remain the same in the final days of the Saudi transfer window, Klopp replied: “Yes.”
Villa was the 150th game in which Salah has scored for Liverpool. The only downside on a comfortable afternoon for Klopp’s team was a hamstring injury suffered by Trent Alexander-Arnold that threatens his participation in England’s games against Ukraine and Scotland.
On Salah, Klopp added: “Nobody came to me and told me something could happen or whatever. I’m pretty sure I would have got a call but I didn’t. And Mo didn’t look for a second like he thought about anything else other than about Aston Villa. He has unbelievable numbers but it’s not a surprise that he has the numbers. And he had chances on top of that, and involved in creating and setting up and all these kind of things. He’s a world-class player, no doubt about that. And I’m really pleased he is in my team.”
