Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp plays down concerns over Mohamed Salah

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(BBC): Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has played down speculation forward Mohamed Salah is unhappy at the club.

Salah recently told a Spanish newspaper that he was disappointed not to be captain at FC Midtjylland when Trent-Alexander Arnold was made skipper.

The 28-year-old Egypt international also refused to rule out a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona.

“Mo is in a good mood, a good moment and really good shape – that’s the most important thing for me,” said Klopp.

“We did not have pictures [from the training ground] this morning but if we did you would have seen him laughing a lot.

“All the rest is nice for you [the media] to write about but, internally, nothing really.”

Following the publication of the interview with Salah, he came off the bench and scored twice in a 7-0 league win at Crystal Palace.

It took his tally to 13 top-flight goals this season and helped make sure Liverpool, who host West Brom on Sunday, were top at Christmas for a third season in a row.

The Reds failed to go on and finish top in 2018-19 after they missed out to Manchester City but won the 2019-2020 title.

“It obviously means you are not automatically champions in May when you are the Christmas leader,” said Klopp. “Otherwise we would have won it twice already.

“It’s the best position you can be in at the moment but that’s all. We haven’t even played half of the season. It’s nice, nothing else.

“Two years ago, when we didn’t win the league after being top at Christmas, it was not about a lack of focus. It was the quality of the opponents and this quality is still out there.”