Jurgen Klopp marvels at Mohamed Salah's body and insists Liverpool star has 'bones of 19-year-old'
Jurgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah still has the body of a 19-year-old despite entering his 13th year as a professional.
The 31-year-old came off the bench to net Liverpool’s fifth and final goal in Thursday night’s 5-1 drubbing of French side Toulouse.
The goal was his 43rd for the club in European competition, surpassing Thierry Henry’s total of 42 for Arsenal to become the highest scorer by a Premier League player for a single club in European competition.
Salah is in a rich vein of form after netting twice against Everton on Saturday and has the opportunity to add to his nine goals this season when Nottingham Forest visit Anfield on Sunday.
But for Klopp, Salah’s maturity coupled with a youthful physique is key to the 31-year-old’s relentless form for the Reds.
“Off the pitch he behaves like a grown-up man but besides that he’s still a young player,” said the Liverpool boss. “He’s so fit. I think if we scan him the majority of the bones are probably 19 or 20 (years old) because he just keeps in such good shape.
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“He has game understanding. That’s what we try to give young players. They all know an awful lot about football when they finish their career at 35 but the earlier you can get this information the more useful it is.
“And with Mo he understands the spaces much better, he knows how players react to him and if he cannot score he can still be a threat for us and that’s super important. I cannot compare Mo to other 30-odd-year-old players because I don’t think biologically he is.”
Klopp admitted he had no idea Salah had eclipsed Henry’s record but claimed the Egyptian would have gone on to beat the Frenchman further down the line, regardless of resting him for two out of the club’s three Europa League games this season.
“Maybe he would have broken a few more records if I would be more into that because sometimes I left him out when he could have broken a record,” Klopp said. “It wasn’t intentional but I’m not too much into this.
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“He broke a record (against Toulouse) but if not he would have broken it in two weeks or three that’s clear. He’s just such a good player.
“We appreciate him and we will appreciate him even more after his career when we realise we saw something really special.”
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