Salah one of the all-time greats – Klopp

Former Liverpool head coach Jurgen Klopp says Mohamed Salah is an “all-time great” and his legacy at the club will be difficult to top.

The Egypt forward announced this week that he will end his nine-year spell at Anfield at the end of the season.

Klopp, who signed Salah from Roma in 2017 for £34m, managed the winger for his first seven seasons at the club.

The 34-year-old has scored 255 goals for Liverpool, putting him third on the club’s all-time scorer list.

“In the moment when you work with him, it is the same as every other player: ‘You can’t lose the ball here, you have to defend here’, all these kind of things,” Klopp told The Anfield Wrap.

“But with the bigger view, it is just ridiculous. Unmatched numbers – will we be talking in 10 years and someone else has them? [Hugo] Ekitike or whoever. I think it will be really difficult [to surpass Salah].

Under Klopp, Salah won the Champions League, Premier League, three domestic cups, the Super Cup, and the Club World Cup.

The majority of those trophies came with Salah on the right flank of a front three consisting of Brazilian Roberto Firmino and Senegal’s Sadio Mane.

Together, the trio scored 338 goals in five seasons.

Salah led the way with 156 of those goals – 49 more than Mane and 81 clear of Firmino.

“He [Salah] was part of the best front three in world football for a long time – the one with the most numbers. That says something,” the German added.

“It is not easy to be slightly above the other two guys. They all had their specific skills, but Mo was the one for the final moment. He wanted it more than anybody.

“Sadio was a mix of both – he wanted to score goals but could even play in midfield – Bobby was the genius who didn’t care about anything.

“Mo was the one with a goal always in his mind. You cannot train that or learn it. It is inside him, and he has that. He will have it until the last day of his life.”

Klopp made a shock announcement in January 2024 that he would step down at the end of the 2023-24 season after “running out of energy”.

He received an emotional farewell later that year from the Anfield crowd against Wolves in his final game in charge.

“We [Salah and I] texted last night. I really hope he enjoys the rest of the season. I know Mo will only enjoy it if he is winning football games and scoring,” Klopp said.