Jurgen Klopp has likened the mentality of “goal machine” Mohamed Salah to that of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. And the Liverpool boss says Salah is alongside some of the best forwards he has ever seen as the Egyptian closes in on 100 Premier League goals for the Reds. Earlier this week, Klopp left a video message to Lewandowski after his 41 goals last season earned him the European Golden Shoe at Bundesliga champions Bayern. It was Klopp who helped coach Lewandowski to prominence during their time together at Borussia Dortmund after the then unheralded Polish striker signed for BVB from Lech Poznan in his homeland for around £3.8m in 2010. Klopp has previously described Bayern superstar Lewandowski as one of the finest players he has ever worked with and the Liverpool boss says he puts his current top marksman, Salah, alongside the decorated Pole.
Jurgen Klopp said: “I’m not sure I said Lewy was the best player I ever coached. The question at the time was ‘which player improved the most?’ It was Lewy, obviously, because I saw the player who arrived at Dortmund. We scouted him for two years and already in that time he improved a lot but when he arrived there was still some space for improvement. The player today is absolutely exceptional. Mo Salah is absolutely up there with him, there is no doubt about that. Mo is a goal machine, definitely. His professionalism is absolutely second to none. He does everything to always be fit and stay on track. First in, last out, all these kinds of things – that’s Mo. On top of that, apart from his technical skill set, he is desperate to score goals and that is helpful as well. That is exactly how it is with Lewy. That’s good and very helpful for a football player. Whatever you do on a pitch, whatever you create, you need somebody who brings the ball over the line and in the back of the net. Mo is absolutely up there with the best I ever saw. He knows that.”
Liverpool are currently aiming to tie down Salah to renewed terms at Anfield having already secured new contracts for Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and Andy Robertson in the summer. Salah’s five goals already this campaign have moved him into the top 10 of all-time scorers at Anfield and while Klopp was keen to avoid talk of a new deal for the frontman, the Reds boss is delighted with what his No.11 continues to produce.
Jurgen Klopp added: “The numbers he has are insane. I’m obviously blessed to work with some good players in my career. Did Mo expect when he arrived that he could achieve these numbers? Maybe yes! Did I expect it? No because you can’t expect it because it would put pressure on the player. But he made massive steps since he arrived here. We have played some really good football which helps as well in scoring goals, the team developed in the right direction and Mo had a massive impact on that obviously. So as for the rest I don’t know. Nobody should expect these kinds of numbers because you never know what can happen. You have to stay fit and everything has to go in the right direction, that’s all true,. I couldn’t be more positive about the things Mo has achieved already, but obviously we are much more concerned about what he can achieve in the future. At the moment he is in a good moment, he is in good shape, in a good mood, all these kinds of things, and that is helpful. He works hard and adapted to some changes in our set-up, the way we play, and stuff like this. He enjoys it so that is all good and all positive. Nothing else I can say.”
