Jurgen Klopp expressed his frustration at a journalist during a pre-Wolves press conference when questioned about rumors linking Mohamed Salah with a move to the Saudi Pro League.
Al Ittihad had reportedly submitted a staggering £150 million bid for Salah before the Premier League’s transfer deadline day, which Liverpool promptly rejected. There were reports suggesting that Nuno Espirito Santo’s team might return with a bid exceeding £200 million before their transfer window closed, but no such bid materialized.
James Pearce of The Athletic sought more information on the matter, particularly regarding the possibility of Salah moving in January, which led to Klopp’s exasperated response.
“You’re kidding me!” 😅
Jurgen Klopp surprised to be asked about Mohamed Salah’s future 👀 pic.twitter.com/TIfWKT21mx
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 15, 2023
However, the Reds boss was not in the mood to discuss the topic, replying: “You are kidding me, yeah? You can’t wait until December to ask this question?”
Klopp previously expressed his frustration with the fact that the Saudi Pro League’s transfer window closes later than England’s.
“I understand 100%, that is not comfortable and that it is not cool for us, but that is how it is,” Klopp said in his pre-Newcastle presser, as perLiverpool Echo.
“But if we want a player from, I don’t know, Wigan Athletic (for example), I go there and they tell us the price and we probably pay it. Probably, it depends a little bit but not just us, big clubs in football.
“The Bundesliga is like that if Bayern comes or Dortmund then Bielefeld or Mainz they cannot react but there is a next level now yes, definitely and it is not great.
“I think this is part of the business and I am not sure if you can change that or if someone will change that but what makes it from a specific moment makes it not possible to deal with is our transfer window closes and the other transfer window stays open, so if they do not stop now then how can we react? We have a squad together now for the season that we try to keep together until next week [after the transfer window shuts].
“From that moment we play until the first of January and this is our squad. That is what everyone is used to. And now we have that problem. We had it in the past with Russia if I remember right, it was a long time ago, thankfully, but they had a different transfer window and could still come [for players] but that was not completely crazy money.”
Liverpool face 15th-place Wolves next in the Premier League as they look to make it four wins on the bounce.