Michail Antonio has claimed that he’s ‘heard’ some of the dialogue between Jurgen Klopp and Mo Salah during the Liverpool duo’s touchline dispute in the 2-2 draw at West Ham last Saturday.
The Jamaica striker – who equalised immediately before the Reds manager and forward had that much-discussed incident – told the Footballer’s Football Podcast that he’s learned what was said between the pair in that moment.
The 34-year-old stated: “So basically, this is not inside information, but what I have heard, this is what the boys have been talking about on the training ground.
“As players come on, Klopp usually gives them a big hug, but when Mo came on he walked in a different direction and did his shinpads and stuff. Klopp put his hand out to him and his hand was there for a bit and he just slapped his hand.
“Klopp didn’t like that and was like ‘Do you want to sit back down’, basically saying ‘Do you want to go on’, and nobody has told me what Mo said back.”
Even though Antonio was busy whipping out a choreographed goal celebration at the time that Klopp and Salah had their flashpoint, he was still closer than most people to that incident on the touchline.
If his version of events is indeed accurate, it seems to have been nothing more than a momentary flare-up between player and manager, although the mystery surrounding the Egyptian’s response is a loose end which could do with tying.
With trusted journalists such as David Ornstein and Fabrizio Romano claiming in the days since the West Ham match that the 31-year-old is very likely to still be a Liverpool player next season, it appears that whatever was said on Saturday wasn’t something which’d have him banging down the door to leave the club.
Klopp and Salah may have already cleared the air behind closed doors in the meantime, and it’d be ideal if they have, although we could get a strong clue as to their mutual standing when the Reds’ team sheet for the match against Tottenham on Sunday drops at 3:30pm, an hour before kick-off.
The Egyptian began two of our last three matches on the bench. He’ll have had eight days between games by the time the Spurs fixture rolls around, so you’d expect that he’d come back into the starting line-up despite his worrying form and that episode with his manager.
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