Jurgen Klopp has hit back at claims Mohamed Salah has downed tools since signing his new Liverpool contract.
The Egyptian star scored 31 goals and racked up 16 assists for the Reds in a hugely impressive campaign last term, leading to him extending his stay at Anfield in a lucrative new deal.
This term, however, things have been much tougher.
So far this season, Salah has scored 16 goals and managed just six assists in all competitions with Liverpool currently way off the pace in the Premier League and eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup.
Since the domestic season resumed after the World Cup, Salah has been limited to just one goal in the Premier League, leading to Klopp being asked about whether his lack of goalscoring form was due to his new contract, something that the German took exception to.
He said: “Attitude and these kinds of things will never be Mo’s problem.
“Mo is a world-class athlete, so he’s the first in, last out, trains hard all these kinds of things.
“Now he’s not scoring but I think there are people out there who think, ‘Why did they give Klopp a new contract?’ That’s how it is in our world, it’s completely fine. If we don’t deliver in moments there is criticism, it’s no problem.
“You can question character, knowledge, ability, you have the right do everything, but you cannot score the amount of goals Mo scored if you are not an outstanding, world-class football player.
“There are moments of course when Mo would have scored last year – in the Brighton game it was 100 per cent goal usually and now not. You think that has something to do with a new contract or whatever, it’s just not right.”
