Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp were locked in a heated touchline argument as the Liverpool star prepared to come on against West Ham United at the weekend.
The Egyptian had already appeared annoyed during pre-match warm-ups at the London Stadium at the weekend and his temper boiled over as Klopp prepared to make a triple substitution.
Liverpool were trailing heading into the second half after Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring for the Hammers. Quick-fire goals at the start of the second period saw the score level at 2-2 prior to Salah’s introduction in the 79th minute.
Klopp turned to his star player in the hopes of getting the Reds back into the game, but eventually had to settle for a draw in the capital that all-but eliminates them from the title race.
Salah – usually a happy and encouraging team-mate – was clearly frustrated with the Liverpool manager and engaged in a public argument with Klopp that has left fans fuming. Klopp initially approached his player and said something to Salah that quickly provoked a bizarre reaction from the prolific goalscorer who leads Liverpool’s scoring charts with 24 strikes in all competitions this season.
Salah responded to his manager by continually waving his arms about, pointing to the pitch, and then pointing at a retreating Klopp who had resumed monitoring the on-pitch action.
However, Salah continued to berate the departing Liverpool manager and only stopped his show of discontent when striker Darwin Nunez intervened. The Reds boss later addressed the argument in his post-match tunnel interview, stating the matter had been dealt with but refused to reveal what had been said.
“No, I won’t share what was said. But we spoke already in the dressing room, and for me, that’s done,” he told reporters. Meanwhile, Salah refused to speak to members of the media gathered in the mixed zone after the game and said: “If I speak there will be fire.”
