Klopp told he will look delusional if he continues treatment of Liverpool star
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp must be careful not to get on the wrong side of Sadio Mane amid speculation over Mohamed Salah’s future, according to one pundit.
Salah recently told AS that he felt “very disappointed” at Klopp. The frustrations arose after the Egyptian failed to earn the Reds’ captaincy in the Champions League dead rubber with Midtjylland.
What’s more, he did not rule out a big move to Spain, attracting doubt over his future. More recently, though, his close friend and fellow Egyptian Mohamed Aboutrika has weighed in on the situation.
However, Garth Crooks has now warned Klopp about frustrating his second star forward, Mane. The pundit noticed the Senegalese’s angry reaction at coming off midway through Liverpool’s rout of Crystal Palace.
Klopp insisted that Mane later understood his decision. But Crooks has warned that an undercurrent similar to Salah’s situation could develop if the manager is not careful.
“This was a better team performance by Liverpool than the one I saw beat Leeds in their opening game of the season,” the pundit wrote on BBC Sport of the 7-0 defeat of Palace.
“However, a note of caution for Klopp: don’t mess Sadio Mane around.
“He’s been the Reds’ best forward for over a season and if Klopp is going to substitute him, especially when he’s in such fine goalscoring mood, he needs to let him know well in advance.
“Watching Mane come off muttering his frustrations isn’t a good look and Klopp is deluding himself if he thinks such things don’t matter.
“And he should never think for one minute that the big European clubs aren’t watching his every move.”
Indeed, previous reports have loosely linked Mane with a move to the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Liverpool urged to tie two players down
Meanwhile, former goalkeeper Paul Robinson believes that Liverpool should tie Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker down to new contracts as a priority.
Both players have proved influential in helping the Reds become Champions League and Premier League winners in recent seasons.
As such, Robinson thinks that one of the club’s top priorities should be resolving their futures.