The Jurgen Klopp farewell tour veered off course this week when the outgoing Liverpool manager clashed with Mohamed Salah during Saturday’s match at West Ham.
The Reds talisman was dropped for the must-win clash at the London Stadium, which ended 2-2. Unfortunately, such an outcome effectively ends Liverpool’s hopes of sending Klopp off with the Premier League title to cap a chastening fortnight during which they were also eliminated from the Europa League by Atalanta.
Tensions ran high on the touchline between Klopp and Salah before the Egyptian joined the action for the final minutes. Salah stoked the flames post-match when he insisted there “would be fire” if he spoke on the incident, which had already been downplayed by his manager.
While Klopp’s verbal joust with Salah took people by surprise, the German has clashed with plenty of players during his managerial career. Here, Mirror Football looks back at some of those players…
As alluded to above, it was Liverpool’s talisman who clashed with Klopp most recently. A frosty exchange on the touchline after Klopp offered a handshake was followed by a feisty discussion before Darwin Nunez stepped in to placate Salah.
Klopp came out after the match and insisted that the issue had been quashed between the pair in the dressing room. When he was asked if he could disclose what was said, Klopp replied: “No. We spoke already in the dressing room, for me that’s done.”
There was never a dull moment when Balotelli was around at Anfield, but the striker was another who clashed with Klopp. The former Manchester City star was already at the club when Klopp arrived but was informed he had no role to play. Balotelli’s old agent, Mino Raiola, previously branded Klopp “a piece of s***” for how he treated his client.
“Klopp does not know me and I do not know him. I was back in Liverpool a month and a half and I spoke to him once,” Balotelli said previously of his Liverpool exit.
“He explained to me that I could stay there but I was not his first choice and he told me it was better if I went somewhere else. If I got games, did well, I could come back but I said goodbye and thank you, and that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again.”
Nuri Sahin
Klopp kicked Nuri Sahin out of a training session at Borussia Dortmund
Klopp garnered a reputation for being a fierce operator during his time at Borussia Dortmund and he wasted no time in turfing Sahin out of training following an argument.
The midfielder, who is now the assistant coach at Dortmund, was given the boot by Klopp for rowing with another player. He revealed: “It was either 2009 or 2010, I was playing for Borussia Dortmund and the coach threw me out of training. He told me to leave because I had an argument with another player. I was young and I thought I knew everything. I was sure I was in the right, 100 per cent, but he told me to go, so I went.”
Lazar Markovic
Markovic was another player Klopp inherited who did not go on to become an integral part of his plans. The winger’s gripe was that Liverpool and Klopp had demanded too high a transfer fee for his services. He was loaned out plenty of times before joining Fulham in 2019.
Speaking a year earlier, Markovic said: “It’s [up to me] to show that I’m still the same player, to show the people at Liverpool that they can’t treat me that way. Yes, it’s okay to take it personally when you are not let go because they’re asking for an unrealistic transfer amount.”
Mamadou Sakho
Mamadou Sakho was sent home from Liverpool’s tour of the United States by Klopp in 2016.
