Ex-Borussia Dortmund star Zidan lauds Klopp’s impact on Salah’s career

Egyptian football icon Mohamed Zidan has hailed the effect of Jurgen Klopp on Liverpool hotshot Mohamed Salah.

After a failed campaign at Chelsea, the forward was loaned to Fiorentina before spending the 2015-16 season at AS Roma, who signed him outright in the summer of 2016.

Having excelled with the Giallorossi, he returned to the Premier League, joining the Reds in 2017 for a deal worth £39million.

Now a two-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, Salah has also claimed the English top-flight title, the Champions League, Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup titles as part of Klopp’s team and is widely regarded as one of the best players on the planet.

38-year-old Zidan, who starred for Borussia Dortmund, Mainz, Werder Bremen and Hamburger during his active career, says his former manager at Westfalenstadion deserves all the credit for his compatriot’s rise to prominence.

“Klopp has managed to develop many world-class players such as [Robert] Lewandowski and [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang,” Zidan told Egyptian radio as reported by Kingfut.

“Salah didn’t succeed with Chelsea, and after he left to play in Italy, Klopp found in him a committed and a disciplined player, who developed himself greatly in the past seasons.

“Klopp’s interest in Salah was influential on his career, and my experience with him was great too.”

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Former Nigeria international John Obi Mikel had shared fond memories he shared with the Egyptian while at Stamford Bridge.

"When Salah came to Chelsea, he was a young boy, but he had a nice personality and everyone loved him,” he told OnTime Sports.

“He was very disciplined, we were close friends, talking a lot and joking a lot, he was a good friend.

"I believed in his development, but frankly I did not imagine that he would reach the quality that he has now.”

Following an impressive hat-trick in Liverpool’s demolition of Leeds on the opening day of the 2020-21 campaign, Salah has now hit 97 goals in his 154 appearances for the Reds in all competitions.

The reigning Premier League champions will be back in action against Aubameyang’s Arsenal on Monday, and the two-time African Player of the Year is expected to feature in the heavyweight encounter.