some are concerned that we may not see much of Salah when he returns from the AFCON, with Saudi clubs awaiting offers to take him to the Middle East. However, Klopp seems much calmer about the situation. The Liverpool manager is in no rush to sign a successor in the January transfer window and will keep it well under wraps if he does. “Any long-term plan I have depends on who’s available, so if I don’t know who’s available, why am I thinking in October about who I’m going to use in January when Mo leaves?” Klopp said this in a press conference on Friday.
“We have a solution today and hopefully it will come after Newcastle. This is not the first time. Losing a scorer is really average, but when Sadio (Mane) and Mo Salah left, we were in a bad situation. “But we’ve always won and traditionally at least one of them has made it to the tournament. This makes the situation worse. We must overcome this. We know the Africa Cup of Nations is coming and Mo Salah has to go. So we have to deal with it. That was always clear. And now he will compete in the Asia Cup alongside Wataru Endo. “We knew that and now we have to deal with it and we will.”The idea that there are no plans to replace Salah in his absence may worry some supporters a little. But Klopp makes a good point. Liverpool have been very fortunate to have had a striker as available as the Egyptian over the years. He has started all 19 league games this season and has been excellent except for one game last season. Few teams rely on top scorers. Erling Haaland may be in a league of his own, but he has missed Manchester City’s last four league games and there is no clear indication of when he will return.
Liverpool fans must make the most of Mohamed Salah’s performance against Newcastle. The Egyptian will not be back for some time after Monday when he leaves for the Ivory Coast following the New Year’s game at Anfield. There he will represent his country at the Africa Cup of Nations. No one knows yet how long he will be sidelined, but it could be February before he sees the red of Liverpool. And of course, his recent absence has fans a little worried. After all, he was the club’s top scorer again this season and also ranked first in assists.
This is a huge gap for Jurgen Klopp, who has scored 19 goals in the Premier League so far.
