Mar 27, 2026, 08:41 AM
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Former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp has clarified rumours around him wanting to sign German winger Julian Brandt instead of Mohamed Salah in the summer of 2017.
There were reports at the time that Klopp was eager for Liverpool to sign Brandt from his former side Borussia Dortmund, and had to be convinced by the heirarchy that Salah was the better option.
The Egyptian arrived for a reported £34.3 million fee in 2017 and has gone on to become one of their most storied players.
Earlier this week, he announced that he will be leaving the club in the summer after a nine-year stint in which he lifted nine trophies and is third in their all-time scorers list.
A bulk of Salah's Liverpool career came under Klopp, with the Egyptian being the talisman in the Reds' 2019 Champions League triumph and 2019-20 Premier League win.
"There is always a story that I wanted to sign Julian Brandt or someone like that," Klopp said in an interview to The Anfield Wrap. "The situation with that is if you go for a winger, you talk to seven or eight.
"Yes we spoke to him, but we spoke to Salah. Whatever people think, I don't care, but in the moment we were convinced he was the one, more convinced than he was in that moment. Maybe inside he was."
Mohamed Salah and Jürgen Klopp created history together at Liverpool. Photo by MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images
Incidentally, Brandt is also set to leave Dortmund at the end of the season. In his 300 appearances for the club so far, he has 56 goals and 69 assists.
Salah was part of Klopp's all-conquering front-three, along with Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino. However, when he joined the club in 2017, the German manager revealed he was anxious about getting into the team.
"When we signed him, I remember he asked me 'where will I play?" Klopp said. '"Your position, right wing.'"
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"He said 'But Sadio Mane is playing there. Don't you think he could play left wing?'" "'That's for Coutinho.'"
"He was really worried about if he would play. Can you imagine Mo Salah today compared to that young man at the beginning of his real career?"