Press conferenceJürgen Klopp on Salah contract, Origi mentality, San Siro and more

The Reds boss spoke to the media on Monday afternoon to preview Tuesday’s Champions League tie at San Siro – the final game of Group B, in which his side have already confirmed top spot.

Read a summary of his answers, in addition to his plans for team selection…

On Salah’s contract…

We are talking. Extending a contract with a player like Mo is not a thing you do and you meet for a cup of tea in the afternoon and find an agreement. That’s completely normal. There’s really nothing else to say about [it]. Mo speaks about it when he gets asked about it. I can only say a few things because all the rest is not for the public obviously. But I’m not sure if he gave the interview in English or if it got translated from Arabic into English, that is a massive issue, how we saw in the last few days again – really a lot of things can happen when somebody tries to do that. Mo is fine, I’m fine. I think what we all want is clear and things like this need time, that’s it.

On whether Origi will feature against Milan and if he ever moans about not getting more chances…

It’s pretty likely, yeah! ‘Moaned’ is not the right word but of course he knocked on my door and we were talking about things. We worked together as long as I’m here, pretty much, so that happened from time to time. It’s not about talking about things, it’s about letting things happen. For the players it’s always the same. It’s not that Div was now always in all situations in a world-class shape and I just didn’t bring him. He got injuries in wrong moments. I still remember it and it was a really, really decisive moment in the Everton game [in 2016] when Div was flying that time. We played an away game at Dortmund and Dortmund was asking, ‘What kind of striker is that?’ They lost Lewandowski only a few months before or a year before and they were like, ‘Oh my God, that’s pretty much the same level’ and these kinds of things. Div got really badly injured, we had to rush him back for the Europa League final.

These kinds of things are influential for careers. Then step by step we improved and we had a specific line-up, it was very often with Mo, Bobby and Sadio. Div was in behind that and played the role there – played more, played less, all these kinds of things. That’s how life is. How I said after the game, if you are not a starter for Liverpool you can still be a world-class player. It’s really possible. I know people see that from time to time slightly different but it’s possible. And in specific moments Div is absolutely outstanding and everybody was overly happy when he scored the goal – not only because he scored the goal, but because he scored the goal. It’s a nice story and now let’s carry on from here.

On Origi’s mentality – that he can come on and have such an effect in games…

It’s one special thing in his skillset. It’s not the only thing – it’s not that he can only come on and play well. He had brilliant games for us from the start. In one of the biggest games in our history – against Barcelona [in 2019], for example – he started, played an incredible game and scored the goals in the right moments. It’s just part of his skillset, that’s it. He is a very positive person, that’s for sure, and he is incredibly talented, that’s just how it is. He can shoot with right and left; his technical level is incredible; he’s really, really, really quick; he is in the air, how we all know, a monster as well. He is a really interesting package. But, that doesn’t mean that you are a constant starter for Liverpool FC because of the quality we have. That’s how it is. That’s how life is. There are worse things than being not a constant starter for Liverpool FC, I tell you. It’s really nice to be part of this squad, really nice to be part of this team. It’s all good but it’s nice that he has that skill and that he used it at the weekend.

On the faith he has in players such as Tyler Morton and being able to make changes and know the standards will be maintained…

We play how we train and we all know, we’ve said it plenty of times, we would love if we could train more often because then we could play much more intensely. That’s how it is. In the specific things, the exercises we do, it’s all about doing the things we need to do in a football game with the right intensity and as often as somehow possible. Yeah, there are a lot of really good young players in this club in the moment, really big prospects. Really happy about that. Tyler is one of them. He’s not the only one, we will have more young boys tomorrow travelling with us and in the squad. That’s important. And we’ll see if they will play or not, but they are only with us because they have the quality to play the football we want to play.

On the atmosphere in San Siro and the influence of a player like Zlatan Ibrahimovic…

I’m looking forward to playing in San Siro, I can tell you – first time for me. It’s not the first time we play Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but it’s great to have players involved like Mo and him. Thank God, they are not the only two on the pitch, otherwise San Siro would be too big!

Watch AC Milan v Liverpool live in the UK with the BT Sport monthly pass – buy here.

Coming up on BT Sport...

• December 7: AC Milan v Liverpool
• December 16: Liverpool v Newcastle United
• December 26: Liverpool v Leeds United