Jurgen Klopp insists he’s ‘not worried’ about losing Mohamed Salah to Saudi Arabia in January after hanging on to his star man this summer amid £200m interest from big-spending Al-Ittihad

• Jurgen Klopp dismissed the idea that he was concerned about Mo Salah’s exit
• The Egyptian has scored twice and assisted two more in four league games 
• Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’ 

Jurgen Klopp admitted that he was not worried about Mohamed Salah leaving in the January transfer window, with the Egyptian forward a high-profile target of the Saudi Pro League over the summer. 

Salah’s sale was ruled out by the club, despite Saudi side Al-Ittihad reportedly being prepared to offer £200million for the player.

The player ultimately ended up staying at Anfield, but speculation continued to swirl that an exit was on the horizon. 

Klopp, however, bristled when asked about the possibility of Salah leaving in January, asking a journalist ‘you’re kidding me aren’t you?’ when asked about it on Friday. 

He added: ‘A week after it closed you ask me about the January transfer window.’

Jurgen Klopp claimed that he was ‘not worried’ about Mohamed Salah leaving in the January window

The German manager added that he had not even thought about Salah’s exit until it was brought up

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The German then laughed when it was suggested that a bid could come in again in January, before stating: ‘You can’t wait until December to ask these questions! We will see what happens, but no, I’m not worried about it at this moment. 

‘I didn’t even think about it until you opened the wound again. I’m not worried.’

The Egyptian has begun the season in strong form, having scored 19 times last term, and has netted twice and assisted two more already in 2023-24. 

Klopp also ruled out Trent Alexander-Arnold for Saturday’s trip to Wolves, with the game kicking off at 12.30pm at Molineux. 

The defender has been out with a hamstring injury, and Klopp suggested that he would be assessed once he was able to run in training. 

He was still full of praise for the right back, joking: ‘If you can find a better passer, then tell me!’. 

The Liverpool boss was seemingly unimpressed when asked about his side’s scheduling, and whether the Reds had an issue with playing at 12.30pm on a Saturday.

It was pointed out that his side lost three and drew three games played at a similar time last season, but he responded in apparent shock, asking: ‘Are you serious with this question?’

He added: ‘What do you mean what is the difference when you play 30 hours ago in Bolivia? What do you think is the reason, I don’t understand.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of the game against Wolves with a hamstring injury

‘Is it something about the time or the lack of recovery in between. It’s not a problem if you have a normal week, we’ve always said that. The only problem is the lack of recovery time.

‘We have four international breaks until March, and on two of them we have the 12.30pm kick-off. If I say one word about it again the whole world goes “He’s starting to moan again”, but it’s a joke – we have players in South America that I haven’t seen yet and we play in 24 hours. It’s a joke. 

‘We’ll never change that, but it doesn’t change anything at all. They just don’t give a (inaudible) about that so why should we talk about it?

‘In the moment someone like you gives me the feeling, sitting there “What’s exactly the problem, is it 12.30pm because it’s lunchtime? Or could it be the like of time between the games and the intensity of the travel?” Make your own opinion about it but maybe without a source.’  

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