The German has rubbished suggestions his winger could be distracted (Picture: Getty)
Jurgen Klopp has once again distanced Mohamed Salah from a move to Al-Ittihad and insists the Liverpool winger is not distracted by the speculation that continues to surround him.
The Merseysiders rejected a bid worth £150million from the Saudi Pro League club shortly before Friday’s transfer window deadline, with Klopp adamant the rumour was a non-starter.
But Al-Ittihad’s interest is not going away and they are now rumoured to be preparing an offer worth an astonishing £200m, with the Saudi window still open for another few days.
To make matters even more interesting, the Egyptian FA are believed to have given Salah time off at the start of next week to sort out his future and he is not required to link up for international duty immediately.
Despite the speculation currently engulfing him, Salah was picked to start in Liverpool’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa at Anfield on Sunday.
Klopp says there was never any doubt over whether the 31-year-old would start, once again hitting out at the rumours surrounding Al-Ittihad’s bid and labelling them a ‘media story’.
Asked if he had to consider whether Salah would be fully focused for the match against Villa, a stunned-looking Klopp laughed and replied: ‘I didn’t have to!
‘I didn’t have to because this was a media story and it never came true.
Klopp remains adamant that Salah will not be leaving (Picture: Getty)
‘I have a big desk in my office, a lot of papers are on there, I have a laptop, iPad, everything that you need, and none of them were busy with this kind of news.
‘So I have a lot of other things to do and that’s why we never thought about it.
‘Mo was completely normal, had a good training week and no, there was nothing from my point of view to think about.’
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Asked about how Salah has reacted to the rumours at his pre-match press conference on Friday, Klopp had said: ‘From my point of view I see absolutely nothing [to worry about].
‘Mo is super committed, really in training fully there, in the leadership meetings this week, he is fully in. I have to deal with facts, and my fact is all good, we are here and everything is fine.’
Liverpool have already been raided twice by Saudi clubs this summer, with Fabinho moving to Al-Ittihad in a £40million deal and skipper Jordan Henderson joining Al-Ettifaq, while the likes of Ibrahima Konate and Alisson Becker have even been linked with transfers too.
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MORE : Al-Ittihad plot last-ditch £200m offer to sign Mohamed Salah from Liverpool
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The German has rubbished suggestions his winger could be distracted by the speculation.