Jürgen Klopp: Mo didn't need even half an hour to settle in
Mohamed Salah has made a flying start to life as a Liverpool player – but Jürgen Klopp isn't surprised.
The summer signing from AS Roma has struck eight goals in 13 appearances to date, making him the Reds’ current top scorer in 2017-18.
Salah has also clinched the Standard Chartered Player of the Month award for August and September, and his manager is delighted with the manner in which the No.11 has settled into his new surroundings.
“He has quality, there is no doubt about it,” Klopp told reporters at his pre-Tottenham Hotspur press conference on Friday. “I think he needed half an hour at Watford, around about, and that was it.
“At Watford, the first few challenges, it looked like he’s not heavy enough, not strong enough, whatever, for these challenges. In the league, it can be difficult, but from this moment on, he was in the league. That’s most important.
“It was a fantastic job of the scouting department; it’s not that I didn’t know Mo Salah, of course – everybody knew him. I’ve known him since he was at Basel, but to see his development in different things and we then all together had to make the judgement, how can we compare the Italian league with the English Premier League and stuff like this. All the rest is Mo Salah.
“He is a fantastic boy and always it helps if you settle as a person very quickly, perhaps you then settle as a player. I don’t think he needed even half an hour to settle in the team – that was fantastic from the first day.
“Hopefully he can stay fit, which would be very important for us. OK, Egypt is qualified but I don’t think they give him a lot of rest. He is the man in Egypt, like Sadio in Senegal. So, I am always a little bit afraid when they are away, different pitches, long trips, long travels and stuff like this – but so far it went well and hopefully it stays like this.”