In response to Salah’s Instagram pos, Klopp denied suggestions that he was dissatisfied at Liverpool and provided an update on Bajcetic’s fitness.
Mohamed Salah’s dissatisfaction has been categorically denied by Jurgen Klopp, who also pledged to personally drive any player who asked to leave Liverpool due to a lack of Champions League opportunities to their new club.
Salah apologized for the team’s efforts during a difficult season that will see them finish in fifth place, their lowest finish in a Premier League season since he joined in 2017.
Salah wrote on Instagram on Thursday evening that he was “totally devastated” by the team’s failure to secure a top-four spot after Manchester United wrapped up qualification with a 4-1 win over Chelsea.
“I’m utterly devastated,” Salah wrote.
“There is absolutely no justification for this. We had everything we required to qualify for the Champions League the following year, but we fell short. As Liverpool, entering the competition is the absolute minimum. I’m sorry, but it’s too early for an encouraging or upbeat post. Both you and we failed.”
Klopp dismissed the notion that Salah was launching a premeditated campaign to leave the club after six successful years, saying that the content of his message and his repeated use of the pronoun “we” show a player who feels equally accountable for Liverpool’s poor season as the rest of the team.
And ahead of what is anticipated to be a significant summer at Anfield, Klopp, whose team concludes its regular season at Southampton on Sunday, said he would personally send any member of his squad who was unhappy leaving the club.
Klopp referred to Salah’s post as “I only heard what he said. Nothing that I read or saw pointed in that direction, I was able to say. As I previously stated, Mo enjoys being here and was involved in our apology for what we did not do, which was to apologize for what the other guys did. Contrary to popular belief, everything is fine.
“I would drive a player to another club if he ever approached me and said, ‘We didn’t qualify for the Champions League, so I have to leave. Like I said, I would take the key and offer to drive him wherever he wanted to go. Because I’ll never understand something like that.
“I would never say, ‘I have work to do at the Champions League, so I must leave.’ I cannot leave now because I am responsible for this mess or whatever. No, that is not the case at all, and no one else has asked me. We didn’t discuss that because they always ask me if they can take an extra day off after their vacation or whenever they have to return.”
Along with providing an update on his progress, Klopp expressed his continued optimism that Stefan Bajcetic will be fit to begin the preseason schedule at a training camp in Germany in the middle of July.
After an injury was discovered following the 1-0 loss at Bournemouth, Bajcetic’s season was over in mid-March. Klopp provided a detailed prognosis for the 18-year-old player, adding: “Yes, there is progress, but yesterday talking to the doctor, it will be around the start of pre-season and there will be times of integration, but that will take time, so he is not in full training at that point.
“Despite the fact that he is completely pain-free, we must be cautious because this player and body are very young. It is a different injury, of course, but we had to be extremely cautious with Curtis (Jones). It is very frustrating for the player because he can train for two days and then require two days off, and even though you feel great, you don’t want to take any chances.
“It’s possible that’s his strategy.
I’m not sure when that will begin exactly, but I hope he will be able to join us at a training camp so he can perform these tasks, advance, and then be fine for the start of the season. However, given the nature of these injuries, there isn’t really a time frame after which he can say the ligament is healed and he can return after six weeks.
“The future assessments must always be awaited before moving forward, but overall, things are good. It should be fine because I believe he will start full training after the preseason and parts of training before that.”
