Mohamed Salah is in the news again as he continues to shine in what could be yet another tremendous season for Liverpool.
The Egyptian is enjoying great form scoring 13 League goals so far in Liverpool’s defense of their Premier League crown.
Despite this, rumors linking the Egyptian superstar with an Anfield exit have been picking up pace.
These reports were sparked by recent comments made by the attacker and his friend Mohamed Aboutrika. The Anfield hero gave an interview to Spanish publication AS not too long ago and was asked about the possibility of joining Real Madrid or Barcelona, to which he replied: ”we never know what is going to happen in the future”.
He also added that his future is in Liverpool’s hand, with beIN Sports pundit Mohamed Aboutrika, who is a friend of Salah, stating that the player is unhappy in Merseyside. The retired Egyptian legend claims that there are a number of reasons for this, but pointed out Klopp’s refusal to hand the attacker the captain’s armband for the Midtjylland game in the absence of Henderson, Van Dijk, Milner, and Wijnaldum as a factor.
Klopp has now spoken about this matter, giving an interview in which he discussed Salah’s future at the club. The German boss was quick to play down his quotes, arguing that it was not a come-and-get-me plea to Los Blancos and the Catalan giants, rather a confession of his admiration for Spain’s top two teams.
Jurgen joked that the weather in Liverpool is the only reason to leave the city but admitted that he cannot force his talisman forward to stay if his heart is not at the club. The Reds boss said (as per the Guardian):
“The only reason to leave Liverpool at the moment is the weather. What other reason could there be? This is one of the biggest clubs in the world. We pay good money, maybe not the most in the world but we pay good, we have a sensational stadium with outstanding supporters, we have a fanbase all around the world and our colours are red, which is the nicest colour anyway.
“You cannot force people to stay but that is it. We never did by the way. It is all about timing, the right moment. We make changes and bring players in and if a player wants to go then we cannot, probably not hold him back; it’s just that I would not understand why somebody would want to go.
“When Mo answered the question it was that these clubs might be interested and he didn’t rule that out. If you ask any player in the world who is not playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid if he can imagine playing there one day and he said: ‘No, Spanish football is not for me,’ why should he say that? The only thing he said was we shall see and it is in the club’s hands. It is 100% true and it is about having talks about the future. It is really all fine. Mo is a very important player for me obviously but this story around is not.”
The 28-year-old has had reasons to be upset as of late. In the 1-1 draw at Brighton in late November, the Egyptian was visibly upset after being taken off early by the manager, a reaction which Klopp brushed aside as a normal reaction from a competitive player.
Furthermore, in their most recent game, the 7-0 triumph at Crystal Palace, Mohamed Salah was benched. However, he did come on as a sub an grabbed a brace, showing his importance to the team once more.