Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has reacted to claims that his winger and Egypt international Mohamed Salah has a negative effect on the Reds.
The 28-year-old is on the chase for his third Premier League Golden Boot. Salah has 20 goals under his belt, one away from top scorer Harry Kane with four games still to play.
Provided he collects his third top scorer award, the Egyptian King will be matching a record only Premier League legends Alan Shearer and Thierry Henry have achieved.
Despite his effective performances and numbers, the Egyptian has received harsh criticism from TV pundit and former Tottenham Hotspurs player Garth Crooks.
“Mohamed Salah only seems interested in the Golden Boot and I think that is having a negative effect on some of his teammates,” Crooks said.
Salah’s individual performances might run in the shadow of Liverpool’s poor season as they sit at sixth in the league, knocked out from the fourth round of the FA Cup and the quarter-final of the Champions League.
The forward’s head coach reacted to Crooks’ opinion, admitting that Salah might not be always looking to provide for his teammates and prioritizing his scoring tally and that it is okay.
“A football player has 15 years, maybe 17 or 18 in some cases, in their career,” Klopp told Sky Sports.
“It is a time in your life when you are at your physical best and you want to squeeze everything you can out of your career.
“Most of the players never win the Golden Boot. If you win it once it is a big achievement.
“If you win it twice it is a really big achievement, if you can win it a third time, there are not many players who have won it three times.
“Strikers have to be selfish. I have never met an unselfish striker. You can be the nicest person in the world but in the end, you want to score goals and that means you do not see players in the same shirt.”
Salah will have a chance to get to the top as he faces Manchester United on Thursday evening.
