Jurgen Klopp insists “everything is fine” around Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool future as he hinted that talks are underway with Naby Keita over a new deal.
Jurgen Klopp said: “Naby’s future will be great. I know that because of the player he is. I understand these questions about contracts but the club is in talks with all the agents and all the people. Until then it makes no sense [to speak further]. The Mo question, nothing new happened, everything is fine, Mo is giving absolutely everything to the club. The club is in talks with all the agents and that is how it should be. I heard if Naby plays tomorrow it will be game 100, it is an impressive number but it could have been more because he is sometimes injured. When he looks back at how he played he is an exceptional footballer, that is why we brought him in the first place. Of those 100 games, I think 80 were really good.”
Meanwhile, Klopp detailed the squad’s reaction to the news that Joel Matip was awarded the Premier League’s Player of the Month for February. Matip played every minute for the Reds in the Premier League last month, scoring his first goal of the season in the 6-0 hammering of Leeds, while also helping the side to three clean sheets and four victories. Klopp revealed that a picture message from Thiago Alcantara in the squad’s WhatsApp group broke the news to the rest of the team.
Jurgen Klopp said: “The player of the month! That was great. Before training we have a meeting and not everyone knew it so I only saw somewhere, Thiago put a picture in the group where [Matip] had a trophy. So I asked if it was really true. It was similar to the celebrations after the Carabao Cup! Joel is a very famous figure in the group. He obviously doesn’t get a lot of headlines. I am not too much into individual prizes for football players but I think if someone should win it it makes sense it is Joel. Who votes for player of the month, is it his mum? I criticise the Premier League quite frequently but they make worse decisions. He definitely is underrated. There is one person on this planet who couldn’t care less if we all underrate it, it is Joel Matip. He doesn’t realise it. He doesn’t think I should have another status, not at all, that is why everyone was so happy.”
