Friday, March 5, 2021 at 8:48 AM• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 09:11

Mohamed Salah was visibly dissatisfied with his substitution in the 62nd minute of Liverpool’s home game against Chelsea (0-1) on Thursday evening. Shaking his head, the attacker passed manager Jürgen Klopp on his way to the bench the Reds, who lost at Anfield for the fifth time in a row. An incident in the second half seems to be the cause of Salah, although Klopp prefers not to magnify the much-discussed situation.

Five minutes before the switch, Salah got the brunt of Klopp, who felt the Egyptian had to sprint back to do defensive work for Liverpool. The attacker didn’t seem to listen to the German coach, because what followed was a kind of slow trot. Klopp immediately consulted with his assistant Pepijn Lijnders, after which Salah was taken to the side. “I have no problem with disappointed players, that’s never a problem”, the losing coach said in the English media afterwards. “I have the response from Mo frankly not seen either. “

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Salah didn’t look fresh so I subbed him – Klopp

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“I could have opted for other substitutions, that’s certainly true,” Klopp continued with his review. “But I chose to switch Salah because he seemed to be bothered by the high intensity of the match, and I didn’t want to take any chances with him. That’s what happened, I can’t say anything else about it. I know. Mo for a long time and something like tonight is rare for him. Normally it is surprisingly fresh to the end, but that was not the case now. I thought that was a sign on the wall. I wanted to exclude every risk, that’s all there is to it, “Klopp concluded.

Mohamed Salah was clearly not happy with his substitution against Chelsea.

Salah’s substitution after more than an hour of playing at Anfield caused discussion on social media. The agent of the attacker from Egypt, among others, joined the discussion with a striking tweet. Ramy Abbas Issa posted a message on Thursday evening that consisted of only one point, appearing to condemn Klopp’s substitution. The response from the business advisor on the other hand led to angry reactions. A Twitter user said that Abbas Issa should not act like Mino Raiola.

On the basis of Abbas Issa’s tweet, journalist Miquel Delaney wonders whether there is still a future for Salah at Liverpool. “Where should he go? The two superpowers from Spain (Barcelona and Real Madrid, ed.) Currently have no money and those clubs are probably going for younger options.” Salah, with a contract with Liverpool until 2023, is 28 years old. “Liverpool will also not want to let him go for a low transfer fee. Only a transfer-free departure seems to be an option for the time being.”