Liverpool boss Klopp downplays Salah row

Salah and Klopp could be seen arguing moments before the winger was brought onto the pitch, having been dropped from the starting lineup for the trip to West Ham. They were involved in an animated spat next to the fourth official, with Klopp appearing to go over to Salah to embrace him but was shunned.

Fellow substitute Darwin Nunez had to separate the pair, pushing Salah away before they entered the fray, but the damage was already done. The furious moment has left many questioning the relationship between Klopp and Salah with only three games remaining in their season.

The Sun claim that the dispute started over Salah deciding against shaking Klopp’s hand before heading onto the pitch. It is not the first time that such an incident has happened involving Klopp, but never this high-profile as the German coach is very keen on interacting with the substitutes before they come on.

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Salah was said to have been far from happy at being named as a sub and was not in the best mood throughout the game, while Klopp was unimpressed with the 31-year-old’s behaviour.

Salah did not shake hands with Klopp at the end of the game either but did show respect to his West Ham counterpart David Moyes. Liverpool have a couple of days off and are set to regroup at their training ground on Tuesday, when they hope tensions will have settled.

Klopp attempted to pour cold water on the seriousness of the matter after drawing at the London Stadium, insisting that the situation had already been handled. “We spoke about it in the dressing room and that is done for me,” Klopp said.

When asked if Salah was OK with it, the boss added: “That was my impression.”

However, Salah added fuel to the fire when walking through the mixed zone on his way out of the stadium. When asked to stop and speak to the media, he replied: “There’s gonna be a fire today if I speak.”

With just a few more weeks left of Klopp, and possibly Salah’s, final year at Anfield, all involved will likely hope that the spat can be put behind them after a touchline handshake snub kickstarted the public row.