'It's all the past' - Klopp insists he and Salah are 'friends' now

Klopp Salah

Jurgen Klopp has opened up on his relationship with Mohamed Salah, dismissing any lingering tension from their final days at Liverpool together. The German, who oversaw the forward's rise to global superstardom, insists the pair are now "friends" despite butting heads on a number of occasions at Anfield.

Klopp clarifies Salah relationship

Klopp has moved to silence talk of a lingering rift with Salah, confirming that the pair are now on excellent terms despite past tensions.

The German coach, who is now serving as Red Bull’s head of global soccer, reflected on the evolution of their dynamic from a high-pressure player-manager relationship to a genuine friendship.

"We are friends now," Klopp told ESPN. "So how I saw it with my players, I always said it, I want to be the friend of my players. I cannot be their best friend. While you're working together, players sometimes think I'm not even their friend because I have to make some decisions they don't like. But the good thing is it's all past .. The strongest thing in life is good memories. They are stronger than pretty much anything else. And right now we share them and so we are friends and now he's at the World Cup."

Salah-Klopp

Addressing the London Stadium flashpoint

The relationship between the duo wasn't always smooth, most notably during a heated touchline argument at the London Stadium in 2024. However, Klopp preferred to focus on the "greatness" he witnessed during their seven-year stint together, rather than the occasional disagreement. He credited Salah for his professionalism and his role in driving Liverpool to the pinnacle of world football.

He said: "It's easy to go and put a finger in each situation and say, 'here he should do better, here should do better.' But when you work on a daily basis with him, you're used to things. I want him to try. I want him to fail. If you don't fail, you don't take risks. If you don't take risks, where's excitement? Where's the outcome? How can you reach the next level if you don't try things other people can't do? Did he perform every day? Probably not. But I can't remember one player to be honest who did that .. Of course, as a coach, you stand out there and you think, 'Yeah, he could do this better, he could do that better.' But looking back, we just witnessed greatness."

An 'imperfect' modern great

Klopp added on Salah's standing in his home country: "So this is his exceptional player. He's an example for so many, so many, not only the Arabic world, but of course in the Arabic world. I think Egypt is probably one of the countries I better don't make holiday because he made me really famous there! So there's no holiday possible. We were lucky with many players, but I think with Mo especially because of the numbers he produced over the years, they are second to none."

He went on to mention Salah in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when elaborating on the outgoing Liverpool icon's professionalism. "Did he perform every day? Probably not. But I can't remember one player to be honest who did that... Of course, as a coach, you stand out there and you think, 'Yeah, he could do this better, he could do that better.' But looking back, we just witnessed greatness," Klopp said. "That's the truth as well. That's the truth as well because most of the time he delivered in an incredible way and most of the time he's got incredible goals. Most of the time he decided games for us and most of the time he pushed us to the next level. He is until today an incredible professional. So that's it. And none of us, nobody was perfect, not Messi or Ronaldo, not Mo Salah They are not perfect, but they are closer than us to that."

Egypt v IR Iran: Group G - FIFA World Cup 2026

Concerns over Salah injury

While Klopp maintains regular contact with his former talisman, there are currently major concerns regarding the forward's fitness on the international stage. Salah is currently facing a race against time to be fit for the knockout rounds of the 2026 World Cup after sustaining a physical setback during the group stages.

The 32-year-old is considered a major injury doubt for Egypt's World Cup round of 32 fixture against Australia after struggling with a hamstring issue. Klopp will be watching closely as Egypt hope their captain can recover in time to lead them into the business end of the tournament.