Jurgen Klopp didn’t want to sign Mohamed Salah in 2017 – and he instead had his eyes on a different player.
Salah had been rebuilding his career in Italy with Roma, following a disastrous spell at Chelsea. However, he seemingly hadn’t done enough to catch the eye of Klopp – who was instead believed to be keen to sign Julian Brandt, who was then at Bayer Leverkusen.
“When he initially came in, an interesting one was Mohamed Salah and Klopp is open about this,” former Reds defender Jamie Carragher told the Stick to Football podcast. “He didn’t want to sign him, he wanted Julian Brandt.
“Liverpool had tried to sign Salah before he went to Chelsea and the people behind the scenes at Liverpool were still there and Salah then went to Roma, and they were very adamant that they had to sign this player. You look at what Mohamed Salah has done, but it could have easily gone the other way.
“I do feel that this idea that managers should buy every player isn’t right, but a manager shouldn’t have a player pushed on him.
“I don’t think a manager should just be able to do what he wants, you look at Manchester United and it’s worrying, it feels as if he’s [Erik ten Hag] just bought every player he knows.”
Liverpool’s bit of business appears to have been the correct decision with Salah’s inspiration propelling the Reds to their first ever Premier League title in 2020. Under Klopp, Salah has also conquered Europe as well as winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Julian Brandt, meanwhile, had high expectations for his career as a youngster – and despite some good performances he has ultimately failed to live up to the hype. Brandt currently turns out for Borussia Dortmund.
