Liverpool
Klopp reflects on managing Salah: challenge, public rows and enduring respect
Klopp calls managing Salah challenging, recalls West Ham spat, says his numbers are unmatched.
Jürgen Klopp has acknowledged that managing Mohamed Salah could be “challenging”, while stressing that mutual respect remained despite occasional public clashes.
The manager spoke after the forward’s recent announcement that he will leave at the end of the current season, and he pointed to a touchline spat at West Ham United in April 2024 as an example of a disagreement that attracted attention. The incident involved Salah being unhappy with a substitution late in the match and became a headline in the weeks that followed.
Klopp placed such moments in context, saying: “Great teammate, great guy—not great company when he’s not scoring!
“We criticize him for being selfish but then celebrate when he scores a goal after beating five men. We both know that we had these arguments, not big arguments. Like the one at West Ham, both of us, five seconds later, would have thought: ‘No, don’t do that in public, come on, rewind.’ Next morning it was already over, but it happens in public.
“We never lost respect for each other and that is what I really like. He didn’t like me for a second when I took him off after 87 minutes, and you think: ‘Why?’ The time with him and Sadio [Mané] together, they were a challenge, of course they were. Special players are a challenge. Tell me one who is not?”
Looking ahead to life after Salah, Klopp questioned the club’s ability to replace the forward’s output from wide areas. “This specific kind of player is irreplaceable,” said the 58-year-old. “I’m not sure there is even another one existing out there. There are other people playing on that wing with different strengths and qualities but it is the numbers Mo produces—they are unmatched from that position.
“The numbers for a winger are ridiculous. For a striker they are pretty much unmatched. So, if it is impossible, why should you try?”
Liverpool now face the task of identifying a successor after nine years of service, but Klopp warned that the particular profile and statistics produced by the forward will be difficult to replicate and may require a significant transfer outlay.
Liverpool
Leipzig ask $115.3m for Yan Diomande as sale hinges on wider summer clear-out
RB Leipzig value Yan Diomande at $115.3m; his sale likely depends on summer exits, contract 2030 fee
RB Leipzig have set a steep valuation for 19-year-old Yan Diomande, with the winger reported to require an offer of roughly $115.3 million (€100 million, £87 million) to be considered for sale. Manchester United, Liverpool and other clubs monitoring the player face a transfer window in which Leipzig’s broader planning will determine whether Diomande moves on.
Sky Sport Germany has reported Leipzig will prioritise other departures before processing any sale of Diomande. The club’s negotiating position is reinforced by the player’s contract, which runs to 2030. Leipzig see Diomande as a valuable asset but are prepared to sell only if the fee reflects that value; on the subject of his availability the player is described as “not unsellable,” but only for an offer that matches the enormous price tag.
Much of Leipzig’s summer strategy depends on transactions elsewhere in the squad. Centre back Castello Lukeba, who has been tentatively linked with Real Madrid and Liverpool in recent months, represents the most valuable asset expected to move in 2026. Factoring potential exits for Lukeba, Antonio Nusa and players currently out on loan, including striker Loïs Openda, Leipzig could generate around $230.8 million in outgoing funds over the summer without needing to sell Diomande.
A route other than an immediate summer transfer is plausible and mirrors a recent precedent at the club. Benjamin Šeško, now at Manchester United, attracted significant interest after an impressive debut season with Leipzig that produced 18 goals in all competitions. Šeško agreed improved terms with Leipzig in the summer of 2024, with an understanding he could leave for an acceptable fee the following year. Manchester United completed a $98.6 million transfer for Šeško in August 2025.
Diomande heads into his first World Cup with Ivory Coast this summer, a stage that may influence how clubs and Leipzig approach his next contract and any potential transfer.
Liverpool
Egypt team director urges Mohamed Salah to remain in Europe amid MLS interest
Egypt director: MLS would dim Mohamed Salah’s spotlight; he prefers to see him stay in Europe. today.
Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan has publicly advised against a move to Major League Soccer for departing Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. Hassan highlighted Salah’s honours, noting the forward’s two Premier League titles and a Champions League title during a nine-year spell at Anfield, and said he would rather see the player remain in Europe.
“Personally, I would prefer him to stay in Europe,” Hassan told On Sports. “I have heard about offers from Paris Saint‑Germain, Bayern Munich and clubs in the Italian league.”
Hassan warned that a transfer to the United States would reduce Salah’s profile. “A move to the Major League? He would be far too out of the spotlight,” he said. He contrasted Salah’s potential move with Lionel Messi’s presence in MLS: “You won’t remember Salah any more than I remember (Lionel) Messi now, I don’t even try to watch him.”
The remarks come amid continued evidence of Messi’s commercial and sporting pull in the U.S. Inter Miami announced that its new stadium, Nu Stadium, will include a tribute called the Leo Messi Stand, which the club says is the first time an athlete who regularly plays at his home stadium will have a stand named in his honour. Messi has sold out major venues, most recently the M&T Bank Stadium when over 72,000 fans watched Inter Miami’s 2–1 win against DC United earlier this month.
Since arriving in South Florida in 2023, Messi has helped Inter Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup title, the 2024 Supporters’ Shield and the 2025 MLS Cup. He is also credited with contributing to the arrival of stars such as Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo De Paul and Son Heung-min to the league.
Inter Miami are not currently in negotiations to sign Salah, but MLS has shown interest at the league level. “Mo Salah is one of the great players in the history of the Premier League … I’d love to see him in our league,” MLS commissioner Don Garber told reporters at the Sports Business Journal conference in Atlanta on Thursday.
International
Rossi Rejects Feud Claims With Arne Slot and Explains Substitutions After Hungary Win
Rossi dismisses feud as ‘nonsense’, defends Hungary priority and explains saving minutes. Szoboszlai
Marco Rossi moved quickly to dismiss reports of a falling-out with Liverpool manager Arne Slot, calling the idea implausible and urging respect for the national team after Hungary’s friendly schedule.
“If we had to save his energy, whether it was for him or anyone else, he could do it,” Rossi sniffed ahead of Hungary’s friendly against Slovenia. “However, for us, the national team is the priority, now it is to play good games.”
Dominik Szoboszlai and his Liverpool colleague Milos Kerkez both started Hungary’s 1–0 win in Budapest on Saturday. Rossi was at pains to explain his substitutions and to push back against suggestions of tension with Slot.
“I’ve read nonsense in the press,” the Hungary boss fumed. “You can’t imagine that I would be so arrogant, conceited and stupid as to compare myself to a coach who manages a team in the Premier League .
“I am not comparable to the Liverpool manager, I had no intention of that happening at all. Arne Slot said he hoped his players wouldn’t play two games. I saved Dominik Szoboszlai 10 minutes and Milos Kerkez 20.
“Slot is a coach of a top club. He deserves maximum respect. I am nobody. But since I am the head coach of the Hungarian national team, I think the Hungarian national team also deserves respect, at least because of its past.
The article’s match details list minutes played by several internationals, correct as of March 30, 2026: Giorgi Mamardashvili 180, Dominik Szoboszlai 87, Milos Kerkez 76, Jeremie Frimpong 0, Virgil van Dijk 90, Ibrahima Konaté 90, Andy Robertson 71, Alexis Mac Allister 76, Ryan Gravenberch 82, Florian Wirtz 90, Cody Gakpo 82 and Hugo Ekitiké 93.
Slot’s wider concerns over his international contingent extend to other players who have travelled and logged minutes in recent friendlies. The French pair Ibrahima Konaté and Hugo Ekitiké started one of France’s March friendlies before travelling to the U.S. for matches against Brazil and Colombia. Alexis Mac Allister undertook a near 14,000-mile round trip to Buenos Aires, a journey Rossi suggested can complicate player recovery and form.
