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Published: 15:09, May 27, 2023 | Updated: 18:14, May 27, 2023
UCL: Klopp says 'would drive him myself' if any player exits
By Reuters
Published:15:09, May 27, 2023 Updated:18:14, May 27, 2023 By Reuters

Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates at the end of the English Premier League football match between Leicester City and Liverpool at King Power Stadium in Leicester, central England on May 15, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

Juergen Klopp said he would personally drive any of his players to another club if they wished to leave Liverpool after the Premier League side failed to qualify for the Champions League.

Liverpool will finish the season in fifth place, qualifying for the Europa League but missing out on Europe's premier competition for the first time since Klopp's first full season at the Anfield club.

Mohamed Salah said he was "totally devastated" that Liverpool had failed to secure Champions League qualification, but Klopp said there were no concerns about the frustrated forward's future at the club.

That would be something I never could understand. It's like me saying: 'We didn't qualify for the Champions League and I need to work in the Champions League, so I go.' I am responsible for this mess, so you cannot go in these moments.

Juergen Klopp, Liverpool manager

"No worries (about Salah's future)... Obviously Mo loves being here and Mo was part of it. He said apologies for what 'we' did, not apologies for 'what the other guys did, but I had to go with them'. Not at all, it's all fine," Klopp said.

READ MORE: ManU back in Champions League with 4-1 rout of Chelsea

"If a player would come to me and say, 'Oh we didn't qualify for the Champions League, I have to leave,' I would drive him to the other club myself. I would take the key and say, 'Come in the car, where do you want to go? I'll drive you.'

"That would be something I never could understand. It's like me saying: 'We didn't qualify for the Champions League and I need to work in the Champions League, so I go.' I am responsible for this mess, so you cannot go in these moments."

Liverpool reached three Champions League finals under Klopp, winning the title in 2019.

ALSO READ: Liverpool manager Klopp fined, suspended for media comments

The second-tier Europa League has long been derided as a "booby prize" and the German manager said he was unfamiliar with that term.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah (left) and Aston Villa's Ashley Young battle vie for the ball, during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Aston Villa, at Anfield stadium, Liverpool, England, May 20, 2023. (PHOTO / PA VIA AP)

"What is a booby? I needed to come fifth to learn that word. Not for me," he added.

"On the level we usually perform it is about Champions League because of the money, the opponents and all this. But I love European competitions.

"I know when you play there's no difference. People may think, 'It's just the Europa League' but I am 100 percent sure that come the first whistle, Thursday night, whoever is the opponent, Anfield will be rocking. And that's all I need."

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