Jamie Carragher names the player Jurgen Klopp was adamant Liverpool should sign over Mo Salah

Jamie Carragher has revealed that Jurgen Klopp did not want to sign Mo Salah and had his eyes fixed on another player.

Salah signed for the Reds in £36.9 million switch from Roma back in 2017, having previously struggled in his first stint in English football against Chelsea.

But he's gone on to cement himself as one of the greatest players ever to play in the Premier League and scored 204 goals in 332 appearances for the Reds.

Salah has served Klopp very well in six years of service but it's believed that the Egyptian was never a priority target for the German.

Instead, his preference was to go for compatriot Julian Brandt, who was playing for Bayer Leverkusen at the time.

But having tracked him when he was at Basel, the board were desperate to sign Salah and forced Klopp's hand.

Referencing the situation with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, Jamie Carragher recalled Klopp being overruled by Liverpool's top brass in a decision that ultimately turned out to be a masterstroke.

Image: Getty

“When he initially came in, an interesting one was Mohamed Salah and Jurgen Klopp is open about this," Carragher said on the Stick to Football podcast, provided by Sky Bet.

"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 its worrying, it feels as if he’s [Erik ten Hag] just bought every player he knows.”

Image: Getty

Brandt would later sign for Borussia Dortmund in a £22 million deal and is closing in on 200 appearances.

However, the player himself has admitted that he would "have loved" to have been managed by Klopp

He told The Athletic: "I had that chance to take that next step to join Liverpool, but the time wasn't right for me. I was aware that they were also looking at Mo Salah at the time. It's a shame because I would have loved to play for Kloppo."

Jamie Carragher was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.

Topics: Jamie Carragher, Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Mohamed Salah

Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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