Jurgen Klopp didn't want Mo Salah at Liverpool - and pair had frosty relationship

Jurgen Klopp and endured a frosty relationship which started with the ex- boss not wanting him in the first place.

The pair won everything there was to win throughout their seven years of working together at Anfield. While Salah, 32, has always been an impressive goal-scorer in his career, his reputation sky-rocketed throughout his time scoring goals for .

He joined the Merseysiders in the summer of 2017, , three years after his nightmare £11m move to from FC Basel. However, it's been reported that Klopp's first preference was to sign German international Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool's head of recruitment at the time Dave Fallows was the person who insisted on the club signing Salah, despite Klopp's protestations and preference for Brandt, who is now at . Despite their impressive work with each other, Salah and Klopp's working relationship was professional at best.

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According to , Salah and Klopp's understanding was described as, at best: "Professional, mutually respectful and almost always cordial". While Klopp is known for his charming charisma and ability to put his arm around players, it's understood Salah did not really want that kind of treatment, instead solely relying on the opinions of his lawyer Remy Abbas.

When Salah signed his new contract at Anfield in 2022, Abbas reportedly entered the emails of a prominent reporter, who claimed Klopp played a huge role in convincing him to put pen to paper, to inform them that was not the case at all. It's also claimed Salah thought his former Roma manager Luciano Spalletti was more influential in his career than the German.

Salah did not dislike or hold any hostility towards Klopp. It's been said that he was not in awe of the ex-Dortmund manager in the way many of his former players are.

Over the course of 349 games with Klopp, Salah contributed an astonishing 211 goals and 89 assists in all competitions. Despite both parties' brilliance, there were times where the tension between them grew.

Salah also had a difficult relationship with former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane. It's been claimed in the article some of the tension was because Mane was a signing Klopp pushed for, while Salah was one Liverpool's recruitment chiefs wanted.

There were also numerous instances of the players clashing when Salah was accused of being greedy and often refusing to give the ball to Mane or Roberto Firmino when they were in a better position. Their most public incident came in the 2019-20 season, when Salah had an opportunity to role the ball to Mane for an open goal in a victory against , but instead opted to shoot, and subsequently miss himself.

After being substituted, an incensed Mane was seen shouting at Klopp and gesticulating towards Salah. The German did not comment on the incident publicly, but did bring the pair into his office to tell them whatever quarrels they had needed to be squashed straight away.

A matter of years later, Klopp and Salah would clash publicly on the side-lines at the London Stadium, during last season's 2-2 draw with United. As Klopp looked to introduce Salah into the game as part of a triple substitution, the pair exchanged some angry words with each other.

While it was unclear as to what was said, it was an indicator that Salah and Klopp's relationship was becoming more and more strained.

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