Mohamed Salah warned there would be “fire” if he spoke following his touchline clash with manager Jurgen Klopp during Liverpool’s Premier League draw with West Ham United on Saturday.
Salah had started as a substitute at the London Stadium and had an animated exchange of words with Klopp as he was poised to come on in the 82nd minute.
After a missed West Ham chance, Klopp turned to Salah on the touchline, sparking the exchange, before Salah was ushered away by fellow substitutes Joe Gomez and Darwin Nunez.
Salah walked through the London Stadium mixed zone at full-time and declined interview requests from journalists, replying: “There’s going to be fire today if I speak.”
Klopp said the pair had spoken in the dressing room and insisted the disagreement had been resolved.
Asked if he could explain what had happened, Klopp replied: “No. We spoke about it in the dressing room but it’s done for me. That’s all. That’s it.”
Then asked if the situation had been resolved for Salah too, Klopp added: “It was my impression, yes.”
Mohamed Salah has refused to reveal why he and Jurgen Klopp clashed on the touchline during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against West Ham… 👀🔥 pic.twitter.com/hglMheHUEY
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 27, 2024
Salah, 31, is Liverpool’s top scorer this season with 17 goals in 29 Premier League appearances, but has started on the bench in two of his side’s last three.
The draw against West Ham represented another setback in Liverpool’s hopes of winning the Premier League.
Klopp’s side had trailed at half-time to a Jarrod Bowen goal, before an Andy Robertson strike and Alphonse Areola own goal put Liverpool 2-1 ahead. Michail Antonio then scored a 77th-minute equaliser for West Ham.
The result leaves Liverpool two points behind leaders Arsenal, who have a game in hand. Second-place Manchester City are one point ahead of Klopp’s side and have two games in hand.
Klopp added to TNT Sports: “I’m not in the mood to talk about that (the title race) to be honest or look at that at all. We had to win here, we knew that, and we didn’t, and now we have a little bit more time between now and the next game. We try to get the boys ready again and we will go again.”
GO DEEPER
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(Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
