Mohamed Salah scored in Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa despite speculation over his future amid heavy interest from Saudi Arabia; Jurgen Klopp on Salah:
“I have no doubts about his future… he wants to play here”; Trent Alexander-Arnold suffered a hamstring injury in the win
Salah dismissed transfer speculation to score a third in Liverpool’s win as Al Ittihad weighed up whether to make a better offer for the 31-year-old after the Reds rejected a £150m bid on Friday.
Saudi Arabia’s transfer window closes on Thursday but the Liverpool boss is adamant that Salah will remain at the club despite a source telling Sky Sports News that Al Ittihad are willing to pay £200m for the Egyptian forward.
He played a best game. Mo had to work hard and he did.
– I never had and still do not doubt his future, his commitment to this club.
Believe me, you have no idea how much noise the whole world makes and how quiet we are about it.
“He is our player, he wants to play here and there.”
While Klopp and Liverpool remain adamant Salah is not for sale,
understands the Saudi Arabian club are receiving encouragement from “certain quarters” but a deal could still be done.
Although encouraged by this, Al Ittihad will try again.
Klopp added in his post-match press conference: “I didn’t understand any confusion all week, apart from answering questions about it – not from people [inside the club], but from outside.
“I have no idea, nobody came to me and said something might happen or whatever. I’m pretty sure I would have been called, but I didn’t. – And Mo never looked for a moment as if he was thinking about anything other than Aston Villa, who were linked with all the goals.
He has incredible numbers, but it’s no surprise that he has numbers. And besides, he had opportunities and he [is] involved in creating and founding and creating all kinds of things.
“He’s a world-class player, there’s no doubt about that and I’m very happy to have him in my team.”
Robertson hopes Salah will stay at Anfield
Andy Robertson insists Liverpool players have no concerns over the immediate future of “ultimate professional” Mohamed Salah as speculation continues over a potential world record bid from Saudi Arabia.
He said: “We block it,
Mo blocks it. We let other people talk about it. This is not a concern for us. For us, Mohamed Salah is a Liverpool player and we believe that will be the case in the near future.
“He’s the best professional. He does what he does, he’s one of the best players in the world and he’s a professional. He lets other people talk, lets other people say what they have to say, but he was always committed to Liverpool. you saw it in his performance.
He is the ultimate professional. He does what he does, he is one of the best players in the world and he is a professional. He lets other people talk, lets other people say what they have to say, but he has always been committed to Liverpool and that has shown in his performance.
“The club’s position was that he knocked it down, rejected the offer, and that was the attitude.
“For me, Mo was Mo all week. He has no influence; I was with him a lot and nothing affected him. Mo responded in the best possible way and I think you saw that with his performance and I thought he was pretty special.”
Szoboszlai: Salah wants to stay
Liverpool new boy Dominik Szoboszlai, who scored his first Reds goal with a superb third-minute opener against Villa, said in his post-match interview that Salah wanted to stay.
“You know it’s football, everyone’s talking. We’re very happy he stayed,” said the Hungarian captain.
Of course we talk to each other, but he wants to stay, he wants to be here and be with us. We are really happy – we need people like him in the team.”
Klopp was asked if Salah had given him that message.
“No. He didn’t tell me, but he didn’t have to. He talks about his training, his activities and his behavior,” he added.
“We had meetings this week and the meetings were not about what we did before, but about what we will do in the future. “Mo was on the players [management] committee and he had moments where he spoke, but it wasn’t anything like, ‘By the way, it’s not until next week’ or whatever.
“He’s totally here, and if Dom said so, fine. Mo doesn’t have to come into my office and tell me ‘by the way, boss… [I’m not going]’.”
“It wasn’t a hot topic for me, to be honest, other than the questions (from the media).”
But the 24-year-old was forced off with injury in the 71st minute as he hobbled off with what has been confirmed as a hamstring injury by Klopp.
The injury puts Alexander-Arnold’s place in England’s squad for their upcoming games against Ukraine and Scotland in major doubt.
Asked about Alexander-Arnold’s injury, Klopp said: “Not great. It’s a hamstring. That’s where he felt it and we have to wait for further assessment.
“He thought it’s not massive but he’s not experienced in that, he doesn’t have a lot of hamstring [injuries] so that means we’ll have to wait.”
Salah combined superbly with Trent Alexander-Arnold throughout the win over Villa with the defender captaining the side in Virgil van Dijk’s absence as he put in a player-of-the-match performance.
But the 24-year-old was forced off with injury in the 71st minute as he hobbled off with what has been confirmed as a hamstring injury by Klopp.
The injury puts Alexander-Arnold’s place in England’s squad for their upcoming games against Ukraine and Scotland in major doubt.
Asked about Alexander-Arnold’s injury, Klopp said: “Not great. It’s a hamstring. That’s where he felt it and we have to wait for further
“He thought it’s not massive but he’s not experienced in that, he doesn’t have a lot of hamstring [injuries] so that means we’ll have to wait.
Opposing players usually do not want to press central defenders into possession and prefer to block possible passes.
Aston Villa had that plan at Anfield. The problem in possession was Liverpool’s astute tactical adjustment which saw Trent Alexander-Arnold pushed into central defense which meant he was given the freedom at Anfield to get his head up and pick passes over Villa’s high line for fun.
He was a defender along with Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz. He threw balls into that space and Liverpool were excellent, especially in the first half. Of his 69 successful passes, 20 went across Villa’s back line, eight of which found teammates who moved into Villa’s box to create scoring opportunities.
Alexander-Arnold created five scoring chances before the break and grabbed an assist on Szoboszlai’s goal. His long ball was also cleared by Salah, who in turn found Nunez, and his shot off the post led to Matty Cash’s own goal. Jurgen Klopp – and Gareth Southgate – will be hoping the hamstring injury that forced his substitution is not too serious.
