Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says there have been no issues with Mohamed Salah since their heated touchline bust-up against West Ham, describing the incident as a ‘non-story’.
The German coach rowed with the Egyptian winger as he waited to be subbed on during Saturday’s 2-2 draw, with the altercation appearing to stem from Salah’s less-than-enthusiastic handshake with his manager.
Klopp played down the incident straight afterwards and insisted they had drawn a line under it in the dressing room, though Salah then restoked the tension not long after when he claimed there would be ‘fire’ if he spoke about what happened.
Ahead of facing Tottenham on Sunday, Klopp has again quelled any suggestions of tension and says they are ‘absolutely fine’, though he declined to speak about Salah’s future or give any clue as to whether he would return to the starting XI.
Asked if the situation has been resolved at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Klopp replied: ‘Yeah, completely resolved. There’s no problem.
‘So if we hadn’t known each other for that long, I’m not sure how we would deal with it. But we’ve known each other for that long and respect each other too much that there’s really no problem.
‘So I think we have the right to deal with these kind of things completely independent of any expectations from the outside. We are absolutely fine with it. That’s a non-story.
‘But in general, the best situation would be everybody is in the best possible place, we win the games, we score loads of goals and then, yes, the situation would not have been exactly like that – because Mo wouldn’t have been on the bench in the first place, stuff like this.’
Probed on whether Salah will start against Tottenham on Sunday, Klopp smiled and replied: ‘So only three games to go and now I change my habits completely [by revealing the team]? You want the whole line-up or…?’
Asked how important it is that the club keep Salah this summer, Klopp replied: ‘Look, you all have to get used [to the fact] that it is not my subject anymore, these kinds of things.
‘So Mo, as I’ve said before, is an incredible player, but I don’t think I should speak about that [his future] to be honest.
‘Other people will decide that, especially Mo. So all fine. I don’t have any signs that it will not be like that, but I’m really the wrong person – already for a few weeks – to talk about these kind of things, the future of the club.
‘I just try to help prepare the basis for that, and I think that’s what we did. But in the end, these decisions will be done by other people not by me.’
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