SHOW ME LOYALTY
Klopp expects stars to stick by him and says Mo is no issue
JURGEN KLOPP has told his players they are not wanted at Liverpool if they are considering leaving should the club fail to qualify for the Champions League.
But the Reds manager believes they are all loyal enough to stay next season and insists Mo Salah is happy.
The forward’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, tweeted a single full stop on his timeline yesterday morning after Salah was taken off against Chelsea, which many Liverpool fans interpreted as a dire
warning about the player’s future at Anfield.
Speaking candidly for the first time about the apparent crisis that has engulfed the reigning Premier League champions, who are 22 points off the pace in seventh place, Klopp addressed many situations, stating:
• there are no behind-thescenes problems with Mo Salah;
• he will not leave in the summer;
• failure to finish in the top four will not signal a financial meltdown;
• he wants to keep his squad together and give them the chance to win more honours;
• the owners want him to stay to put things right;
• he can still get top players with no Champions League football.
Klopp said: “If a player wants to leave because we don’t play in the Champions League, then I don’t want him. If a player does not want to come to us because we don’t play Champions League next season, then I don’t want him. It is nothing I worry about.”
And that includes Salah, who was visibly angry when he was substituted in the defeat by Chelsea on Thursday. “I cannot guarantee it for the future, for all time and say it will never happen, but these kind of discussions never happened,” said Klopp of suggestions Salah is unhappy in any way.
“Mo is in a good mood, it is not a problem.”