Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has leapt to the defence of star forward Mohamed Salah after he was criticised for his relatively slow season so far.

The Egyptian enjoyed a stellar 2021/22 campaign, scooping several awards and accolades as the Reds won both the FA Cup and EFL Cup, while they came agonisingly close to claiming an unprecedented quadruple.

But things haven’t been as rosy for Liverpool or Salah since he signed a new contract over the summer. They currently sit 10th in the Premier League table behind the likes of Fulham, Brighton and Brentford, while the forward has registered just seven league goals thus far.

Ahead of Liverpool’s trip to Wolves on Saturday, Klopp was asked if Salah’s form could be put down to a lack of motivation after signing such a lucrative contract, but the German was not having any of it.

“Attitude and these kinds of things will never be Mo’s problem,” Klopp retaliated.

“Mo is a world class athlete, so he’s the first in, last out, trains hard all these kinds of things.

“Now he’s not scoring but I think there are people out there who think, ‘Why did they give Klopp a new contract?’ That’s how it is in our world, it’s completely fine. If we don’t deliver in moments there is criticism, it’s no problem.

“You can question character, knowledge, ability, you have the right do everything, but you cannot score the amount of goals Mo scored if you are not an outstanding, world class football player.

“There are moments of course when Mo would have scored last year – in the Brighton game it was 100 per cent goal usually and now not. You think that has something to do with a new contract or whatever, it’s just not right.”