Jurgen Klopp: ‘If a player wants to leave Liverpool because of Champions League, I will drive them’

Jurgen Klopp has vowed to drive any player who wants to leave Liverpool because they have not qualified for the Champions League out of the club.

Klopp said he has no concerns that Mohamed Salah, who had tweeted that there were “no excuses” for Liverpool’s failure to get a top-four finish will look to leave this summer and insisted his 30-goal top-scorer was just saying sorry to fans for their collective underachievement.

Salah signed a new contract last summer and Klopp is adamant the winger loves life at Anfield, while he is determined to have a squad of players who want to be there, regardless of which European competition they are in.

“No worries no, [that he’ll go],” the Liverpool manager said. “Obviously Mo loves being here and Mo was part of, he said, apologies for what ‘we’ did - not apologies for ‘what the other guys did, but I had to go with them’…not at all. It is all fine.

“If ever a player would come to me, and said, ‘Oh, we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, I have to leave,’ I would drive him to the other club myself. I would take the key, (and say) ‘Come in the car, where do you want to go, I drive you’.

“That would be something I never could understand. It is I would say [adopting a childish voice], ‘Oh, we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, I need to work in the Champions League so I go’.

“I am responsible for this mess, or whatever, so you can not go in these moments. It is not the case with Mo, not at all, and nobody else told me - they ask if they can have a longer holiday or whatever - but nobody asks me if after holiday they have to come back.”