Klopp outlines Liverpool's Salah contingency plan amid Saudi transfer plot

01 January 2024 , 10:45

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Klopp outlines Liverpool's Salah contingency plan amid Saudi transfer plot

Jurgen Klopp has backed Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez to step up for Liverpool while Mohamed Salah is away at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Salah, 31, is set to make his final appearance for the Reds in Monday night's Premier League clash with Newcastle before jetting off to the Ivory Coast with Egypt for the tournament, which begins later this month.

Klopp has plenty of options to step up in Salah's absence, though, including Jota and Nunez, who were both on target in the 2-0 win over Burnley on Boxing Day.

And Klopp has admitted that the duo could hardly have timed their return to form better with Salah's absence looming large on the horizon.

When he was asked about Jota and Nunez's goals prior to the Newcastle match, Klopp admitted: “Yes, absolutely, it’s great timing. And it’s good as well that we played the West Ham game without Mo starting, seeing that we can do something without him. You want to have Mo Salah, he plays all the time, on the pitch, but he’s not available. You always have to find solutions and usually we find some.

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“It’s not the first time, it’s a really very average situation that you lose your goalscorer, but we had it even worse in the past when both Sadio [Mane] and Mo left and traditionally at least one of them went far in the tournament. We know the Africa Cup of Nations appears and Mo has to go, and so we have to deal with it.”

While Liverpool will have to do without Salah for January, his long-term future remains in doubt amid interest from ambitious clubs in the Saudi Pro League following their failed attempts to sign the Reds talisman back in the summer.

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Jurgen Klopp will have to cope without Salah during the Africa Cup of Nations (Getty Images)

It's understood Liverpool rebuffed a huge £150m bid for Salah on transfer deadline day, and according to a new report from Sky Sports, clubs in Saudi Arabia 'will not stop' until they secure the Egyptian forward's signature - even if it means biding their time until the summer.

Salah signed a new three-year contract with the Reds in the summer of 2022, meaning he will have just 12 months left to run on his deal at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

Salah has been in electric form for Liverpool this season, chalking up 16 goals and eight assists in 26 appearances prior to Monday night's match with Newcastle.

Dan Marsh