Jurgen Klopp insists he has no worries about Mo Salah's Liverpool future, after the forward made publicly clear his frustration at the Reds' failure to qualify for next season's Champions League.
As they prepare for their final game of campaign away to Southampton, Liverpool know they will finish – meaning Europa League football in 2023/24 for Klopp, Salah and co.
And, based on his remarks following Manchester United's 4-1 win over Chelsea on Thursday night – the result which mathematically ended Liverpool's already faint top-four hopes – Salah isn't exactly enthused by the prospect of playing in Europe's second-tier competition next term, tweeting that making the Champions League was the "bare minimum" for the Reds.
I’m totally devastated. There’s absolutely no excuse for this. We had everything we needed to make it to next year’s Champions League and we failed. We are Liverpool and qualifying to the competition is the bare minimum. I am sorry but it’s too soon for an uplifting or optimistic… pic.twitter.com/qZmA9WsueMMay 25, 2023
Salah's somewhat scathing assessment might have sparked some panic ahead of the summer transfer window, but Klopp isn't remotely concerned about potentially losing one of his star men. He said: "No worries, no. I only heard what he said, but I couldn't read anything that could lead in that direction.
"Obviously, Mo loves being here and Mo was part of it. He said apologies for what 'we' did – not apologies for 'what the other guys did, but I had to go with them'. It is all fine.
"If ever a player would come to me and said, 'oh, we didn't qualify for the Champions League, I have to leave', I would drive him to the other club myself.
"I would take the key [and say] 'come in the car, where do you want to go, I drive you'."
Salah extended his Liverpool contract just under a year ago, becoming the highest-paid player in the club's history.
And, despite an underwhelming season for the team as a whole, the 30-year-old has continued to bang the goals in this term.
For the third straight campaign, Salah has reached the 30-goal mark in all competitions – and is now one away from leapfrogging Steven Gerrard into fifth place on the Reds' all-time top scorers list.
