Mo Salah is due to leave Liverpool at the end of the season and his former boss Jurgen Klopp has given an honest take on the Egyptian bringing to an end his glittering spell at Anfield
Jurgen Klopp texted ‘irreplaceable’ Mo Salah straight after he found out that he would be leaving Anfield. The Egyptian winger confirmed earlier this week that he would be departing Merseyside in the summer, despite having a year left on his contract.
Salah, 33, enjoyed his best football under former Liverpool boss Klopp. And with the German set to return to Merseyside for a legends game against Borussia Dortmund this week, he has revealed that he got in touch with his former star once the announcement was made.
“I text with players,” Klopp said. “Less so in not so good times, let me say it that way! ‘Keep your head up’ or whatever doesn’t go down particularly well!
“It’s exactly like that. I heard that he was going to leave. Then I saw the video. I thought I will call him or text him or whatever. I didn’t know whether I would reach him.
“We have the same physio, by the way. I loan him my physio! Chris Rohrbeck is treating my hip. Anyway, I had to process a little bit to think what it means that Mo goes.
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“I am already in a different perspective because I watch from the outside. I have this distance if you want. So I text him what I thought in that moment. I can sum it up: I am really happy and proud that I was part of the whole journey.”
Liverpool now have a huge task on their hands in replacing Salah’s contributions. The former Roma star has scored 255 goals for the club since arriving from the Italian side.
And Klopp believes the Reds have an impossible job in finding Salah’s successor. He added: “This specific kind of player is irreplaceable. That’s always how it is.
“There will be a void that somebody will fill. It’s always in our minds how much time, how much space – yeah, how much time do we give to whoever is going to play there in whatever system the manager will play?
“But the specific player, Mo Salah? I’m not sure there is even another one existing out there. There are other people playing on that wing with different strengths, different qualities, but it is the numbers he produces – they are unmatched from that position.
“I don’t know if there was ever any player who had that (from there). You tell him he is a winger or a striker he says: ‘No, no, no I am a winger’. The numbers for a winger [are] ridiculous. For a striker, they are pretty much unmatched. That’s how it is.
“So, if it is impossible, why should you try? I’m not in the role to advise anyone. But just bring players in and play the kind of football which can be successful. That is pretty much everything.
“We lost Sadio Mane. We could sing a song about him. What a player he was! Bobby Firmino – Oh. My. God. On the day Gini (Georginio Wijnaldum) went, probably none of you thought: ‘That’s a big miss’, until he was not there anymore and then you thought: ‘Oh! He was the combination of technique, power, tactical discipline and all these kinds of things’.
“Then Hendo (Jordan Henderson) left. Some thought: ‘Good! It’s time!’ Milly (James Milner) went and did all these kind of things. That’s just how it is. But other players came in: Macca (Alexis Mac Allister), Ryan (Gravenberch), Dom (Dominik Szoboszlai). That’s how it is. Don’t try to chase the shadows. Find a new way and play.”
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