Jürgen Klopp has said Mohamed Salah exceeds all the expectations Liverpool’s scouting department had of the Egypt international and has made his attack a more unpredictable force.
No Liverpool player has scored more goals before new year than Salah, who equalled Roger Hunt’s record of 23 from 1961-62 with a match-winning double against Leicester City on Saturday. The 25-year-old missed several first-half chances against Claude Puel’s team before extending Liverpool’s unbeaten run to 15 matches and Klopp believes that recovery is the mark of a player brimming with confidence. He also admitted Salah has shown different qualities to what Liverpool had seen before signing him for £36.9m from Roma in the summer.
“The record is remarkable and the goals themselves are remarkable as well,” said the Liverpool manager, who is likely to be without the forward for the New Year’s Day trip to Burnley. “I’d like to show you all the scouting footage we had from the games we saw. The second goal against Leicester – a goal like this was not involved. He is so physically strong.
Klopp said Salah, who was limping before he was substituted against Leicester, had also exceeded his expectations of what the former Chelsea and Basel winger could bring to Liverpool this season. Asked whether he was surprised by Salah’s impact, the Liverpool manager replied: “100%. It was clear he would help us a lot because he makes us more unpredictable with different systems. He can play striker, second striker, the No10; similar to Sadio Mané. He can play both wings and as a No8, same as Phil Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.
“We have different choices. Salah always plays a little more than a second striker. You’ll take that because it makes life uncomfortable for the opponent. They know if they lose the ball then Mané and Salah are running in the other direction.”
Virgil van Dijk will complete his £75m move from Southampton on Monday and, though Klopp has insisted he does not have to balance the books following the record transfer, he is acutely aware of Barcelona’s continued interest in Coutinho.
Nike, Barcelona’s kit supplier, announced the Brazilian had moved to Camp Nou on Saturday via an advert on their online store. The ad, linked via Barcelona’s website, read: “Philippe Coutinho is ready to light up Camp Nou. Get your 2017/8 FC Barcelona kit with the Magician’s name on it. Act fast – free personalisation only available until January 6.”
The advert was taken down within an hour and Liverpool have not commented on the latest development involving Coutinho and Barcelona, who had three bids rejected for the playmaker last summer.
Klopp has declined to comment on Coutinho’s future in recent weeks but, speaking generally about the Liverpool squad and before the Nike advertisement appeared, he insisted every player is invested in what the club hopes to achieve this season.
“They are buying into it and nobody told me anything different,” he said. “If you want to be part of a really good club you need to respect there are a lot of other really good players. I didn’t see any holes in the performance against Leicester. With the performance level we’ve delivered, it’s really high. Results-wise maybe it’s not that sexy but all the draws we were closer to winning than losing. That is another important thing. The job now is to switch off for a second and get ready for another football war in Burnley again.”
