Jurgen Klopp insists he has no regrets over Liverpool exit: ‘I’m more than happy not to be there’ | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has said he hopes Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk stay at Anfield as he declared he has no regrets about leaving Liverpool while his former club flourish under Arne Slot.

Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk are all out of contract this summer and could leave on free transfers but Klopp, at his unveiling at Red Bull’s head of global soccer, said there was no chance they would join his stable of clubs, including RB Leipzig and RB Salzburg.

The 57-year-old stood down last summer after an eight-and-a-half year reign in which he paid a club record £75m for Van Dijk and gave a debut to Alexander-Arnold, before later making them captain and vice-captain. Salah scored the most goals under Klopp, who described him as Liverpool’s finest forward in their recent history.

Liverpool have been in talks with all three about new deals but they are also able to sign pre-contract agreements for a summer move to foreign clubs. Alexander-Arnold is a target for Real Madrid while Salah has described himself as "more out than in" with no agreement over a deal.

Klopp said he was keen to see Salah remain at Anfield, explaining in reply to an Egyptian journalist: “I hope he stays. He is the biggest striker LFC had in the modern days. Fantastic player, fantastic human being, outstanding athlete, greatest ambassador your country could have.

“From my point of view, I would love all three to extend their contracts, but they did not tell me."

Klopp also gave a playful answer when asked about the possibility of the trio joining Red Bull’s network of clubs in the future, in which he referenced criticism of right-back Alexander’s defending.

The German said: “Oh, yeah – Virgil, I’m pretty sure he would love to have now five more years at Liverpool and then between 41 and 44 for New York Red Bulls because he probably underestimates US football. But open arms, no problem.

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Jurgen Klopp is hopeful that Mohamed Salah remains at Anfield (PA)

“Mo, yes, would love to – I don’t think we have a chance to pay him to be honest. And then Trent, yeah, and he could finally learn defending, eh? I can’t believe that you all discuss this still, it’s so poor and I’m really happy I’m not part of that.

“I watched the press conference when he (Klopp’s successor Arne Slot) had to talk about it, and you think ‘oh my God, they still don’t understand it’!

“And yes he didn’t play well against Manchester United (the 2-2 draw at Anfield on 5 January), but if you would make such a fuss of him when he plays well, like you make a fuss of it when he doesn’t play well, that would be really a cool planet.”

Klopp stepped down after a near nine-year tenure during which Liverpool – with the likes of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold key – won silverware including the Champions League in 2019 and Premier League in 2020.

Under Dutchman Slot, the team are currently top of the league table, and Klopp said: “I’m so happy that they do so well, that’s what I was hoping for.

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Klopp has been pleased to see Arne Slot succeed so far with Liverpool (PA Wire)

“I’m in contact with some people, with Arne texting, players texting, stuff like this. There is not 0.01 percentage that I think ‘oh my God, I should still be there’, not at all.

“I’m more than happy not to be there. Because they are doing so well that’s really great, I wish them all the best and I watch as many games as I can and could, because it’s great football.

“Even if you don’t support Liverpool right now you’d better watch it because it’s really top, top, top football, maybe the best balanced in the world out there right now. I’m really, really happy about that.”