Mohamed Salah has revealed his shock at Jurgen Klopp’s exit, having initially thought Virgil van Dijk was winding him up.
The German stunned the football world in January when he announced he would be standing down as manager at the end of the season.
Klopp, who is currently the longest-serving manager at a single club in the English football pyramid, had been contracted at Liverpool until 2026.
But the 56-year-old has blamed fatigue as his reason for leaving, having been pushing for silverware since joining the club in 2015.
And Salah, who was brought to Liverpool by Klopp from Roma in 2017, was left with just one question when he found out- ‘Why?’
Speaking to Sky Sports, Salah reflected on how he reacted on the day Klopp announced to the squad he would be departing Anfield.
He said: “It was weird, usually we don’t do meetings at 10.30am, that is usually report times, 12am is training.
“And then they said there was a meeting at 10.30, I was like, ‘What?’
“[Klopp’s] agent was here, and I was like, ‘Oh he’s renewing his contract!’
“Because usually there is no meeting at that time, then five minutes before the meeting, Virgil is telling me, ‘Do you know what the meeting is about?’
“I was like, ‘No,’ he said, ‘The manager is leaving’, I say, ‘You serious?’
“He said, ‘Yeah’, I say, ‘Why?’, he said, ‘No idea,’ then the manager came in and everybody is asking, then he said it.
“It was so weird because no one knew before, there was nothing in the media, he didn’t even prepare us for that, he just said it one time.
“I was like, ‘OK’. That was a weird day for us, but that’s football.”
In what is Klopp’s final season with Liverpool, they could end the season by winning a historic quadruple.
The Reds have already scooped the Carabao Cup and lead the Premier League, while still being in the hunt for the FA Cup and Europa League.
And should they beat rivals Manchester City on Sunday, few would bet against the Reds from claiming top-flight glory to give Klopp the perfect send-off.
