Mohamed Salah’s close friend slams Jurgen Klopp for Liverpool captaincy snub
Mohamed Salah's close friend Mamdouh Eid has slammed Jurgen Klopp for his treatment of the Liverpool superstar.
Eid is the current president of Pyramids FC and his grandfather founded Arab Contractors FC — the club where Salah started his career as a 14-year-old. In a recent interview, he slammed Klopp for picking Virgil van Dijk as the club's new captain instead of the former Chelsea winger.
The Dutchman is serving as Jordan Henderson's successor when it comes to wearing the armband. Trent Alexander-Arnold (24), meanwhile, took over the role of vice-captain after James Milner's free transfer to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Eid told 90min:
"Liverpool is bigger than any individual but it is strange how the manager is with him [Salah], he is the greatest leader he has and should be his captain, but they don’t use him.
"He has taken his country to the World Cup and through the toughest moments, but that is not enough for him to be captain of Liverpool. He has never shown less commitment, he is not selfish, he produces everything, every season, but I don’t think the manager has been fair to him."
Salah (31) is currently Liverpool's fifth all-time top-scorer with 187 goals in 307 games during his six-year stay at Anfield. He is also the captain of Egypt, for whom he has 49 goals in 88 games.
Salah notably scored both goals in Egypt's 2-1 win against Congo in October 2017 which took them to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Jurgen Klopp's verdict on Mohamed Salah substitution in Liverpool's draw against Chelsea
Liverpool fans saw a rare sight in their opening-day draw against Chelsea on 13 August. Mohamed Salah was brought off with 13 minutes left in the game with the score still tied at 1-1.
Ben Doak came on the pitch and while he showed flashes of brilliance, he couldn't help the Reds change the scoreline. Salah was also visibly distraught at being taken off and furiously raced to the bench without greeting Jurgen Klopp on the touchline.
Salah was chasing the record for most goals scored in the opening round of Premier League fixtures. He currently has eight, which is a joint record alongside Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard.
After the game, Klopp spoke of the incident and said, via InsideSport:
"We needed fresh legs. He [Salah] has 500 different records. I can’t think of these. I can understand because if Mo scored it would have been a new record for goals scored in the opening game but I didn’t think about that."
Salah assisted Luis Diaz's goal against Chelsea but failed to get on the scoresheet himself.