"Salah is the most selfish player I have ever witnessed" - Liverpool legend hits out at Mo Salah after touchline row with Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has hit out at Mohamed Salah following the Egyptian's touchline spat with Jurgen Klopp. The Reds saw their title charge fizzle out following a 2-2 draw against West Ham United (April 27) but the game made headlines for an altercation between Salah and Klopp.
Klopp did not hand Salah a start against the Hammers owing to his recent dry spell of form. As the German manager was preparing to make a triple substitution to bring him on, West Ham leveled the score at 2-2.
While waiting on the touchline, Salah looked visibly frustrated and was seen in a heated exchange with Klopp. Fellow substitutes Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez had to get involved to ease tensions.
Salah did not seem in any mood to cool the situation with his comments while he walked through the press zone. The former Chelsea star said:
"There is going to be fire today if I speak."
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness did not take the incident lightly and has blasted Salah, labelling him as the most selfish player he has ever seen. The Scotsman also claimed that he believes that the 31-year-old will depart for Saudi Arabia in the summer. He said, as quoted by Echo:
"I believe Mohamed Salah is off and leaving Liverpool. He has been fabulous for Liverpool, but if he leaves to the Saudi Pro League then he’ll be the biggest star in that part of the world. He no doubt has an exceptionally large opinion of himself, and he’ll have been angry at not starting the game against West Ham last week. I think the situation with Jurgen Klopp was a reaction to only being brought on with 10 minutes to go – it was more Salah than it was Klopp in that confrontation."
"Salah is the most selfish player I have ever witnessed. Even prior to that game, whenever Klopp takes him off, he is never happy about it. That is what you want from your players, if you take them off on two goals, they should want to stay on to score a third. When Sadio Mane was there they’d fall out all the time."
The former Liverpool midfielder, who won 15 trophies with the Reds as a player and one as manager, added:
"Salah has been world-class in his time at Liverpool. Goals change games and his goals have had an enormous influence on Liverpool since he’s been at the club. I think he still gets into the Arsenal team and certainly would’ve gotten into the Manchester City team over the past five years. When the going gets tough and another player puts it on him, Salah will disappear from a game. Last season at Old Trafford Lisandro Martinez went through him early on, and for the rest of the game Salah was looking over his shoulder for Martinez – he doesn’t like that side of the game. He’ll never get himself hurt."
Salah has been Liverpool's talisman under Jurgen Klopp since his £34.3 million switch from Roma in 2017 proved to be a huge bargain. The former Chelsea winger has scored 210 goals and provided 88 assists in 346 appearances to date.
Arne Slot looking to bring Feyenoord star to Liverpool along with himself: Reports
Arne Slot reportedly wants Feyenoord star Mats Wieffer as his first signing after he takes over at Liverpool. The Dutchman is set to take the reigns from Jurgen Klopp in the summer and will have huge boots to fill.
The Merseyside giants are evidently in need of a defensive midfielder and have been linked with Wieffer in the past. With Slot set to become their next manager, it is hardly a surprise to see the 24-year-old emerge as a top target.
Wieffer has been a key player for Feyenoord under Slot since his move from Excelsior in 2022. The nine-cap Dutch international is regarded as one of the finest talents in his position across Europe and has plenty of room and time for development.