Jurgen Klopp has revealed his delight at seeing Mohamed Salah sign a new three-year contract at Anfield, insisting it wouldn't be possible to sign a player of his calibre if he wasn't currently at Liverpool.
The Egyptian, 30, finally ended the relentless speculation surrounding his future late last week when he unexpectedly penned a new, heavily incentivised, three-year contract on Merseyside. Salah's future has been a constant topic of discussion at Anfield ever since he first broke his silence about his future while speaking to Spanish publications in December 2020.
However, Liverpool, led by new sporting director Julian Ward, managed to broker a deal with Salah's advisor Ramy Abbas last week before a handful of club delegates flew over to the Greek island of Mykonos, where the striker was enjoying the remaining weeks of his summer, to wrap up a deal.
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"I knew it would happen, it was always clear Mo wants to stay, that was always the message," Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com on Friday afternoon.
"I spoke to him and it was always clear: ‘I want to stay.’ But it’s an important contract, different things have to be considered and that’s what takes time sometimes. We cannot always fulfil the expectations from the outside world – there’s an ending contract, next year it will end, so sort it now. Things need time."
Klopp added: "But we are obviously experienced enough to deal with these kind of things. He is very happy now that he can extend his time here. We are very happy, a world-class player. Imagine you have to sign Mo Salah now; he’s in another club and you want a player with the numbers he created over the years. It’s pretty much not possible. But we have him and he wants to stay – [it's] very good news."
Salah will link up with the rest of his teammates over the weekend before the club jet off on their first pre-season tour in three years as they descend on Thailand for fixtures against Premier League sides Manchester United and Crystal Palace. The 30-year-old will be joined by potential club-record signing Darwin Nunez who will also be part of Klopp's squad that tour of the Middle East.
New sporting director Ward has finalised a handful of contracts during the off-season at Anfield, with James Milner and defender Joe Gomez putting pen to paper either side of Salah extending his stay, to the joy of the Liverpool manager.
"That’s how you build a team," said the 55-year-old.
"Millie [Milner] is incredibly important for us. Who doesn’t know it yet or doesn’t believe it yet just has to read Pep Lijnders’ new book, which comes out in early August I think. It’s like a love letter to James Milner – well deserved, by the way!"
"Joey is really a world-class defender, no shadow of a doubt. He believes in this project, he believes in himself and he wants to be a Liverpool FC player. And we want the team to stay obviously. I know what people say in these moments: ‘But you have him, you have him, you have him.’ We’ll need the quality and we have the quality. And Joe Gomez when he played was outstanding for us and he will be outstanding for us."
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