As was the case for so many years across his time at Liverpool, it was down to Jurgen Klopp to take the tension from a difficult subject.
The Reds boss was chatting to a handful of reporters who have covered his every move in great detail these past nine years earlier this month when he was reflecting on a piece he had just filmed with Sky Sports as part of the coverage of his end-of-season departure.
“It was really nice,” Klopp began. “They had Stevie (Steven Gerrard), Sir Kenny (Dalglish), Mo (Salah) – that bit was probably filmed before the West Ham game!”
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The one-liner led to some chuckling from the reporters who had gathered around the table for the chat and the hearty laugh that followed from Klopp indicated that the pitchside disagreement he had with Salah in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium was now firmly behind the pair.
If that avoidable fallout was furthered by Salah’s insistence as he left the London Stadium that “there will be fire” if he was speak to the media that day, the disagreement will not form part of the conversation when the relationship between one of the planet’s most gifted managers and his greatest goalscorer is analysed in the future.
And Klopp’s willingness to make light of a public spat between the two revered figures was evidence that the storm-in-the-teacup had long since faded.
Salah‘s goals were a major reason why Klopp walks away with a trophy haul that includes the Premier League and Champions League but the Egyptian was also elevated to world-class status thanks to the coaching acumen of his manager at Anfield.
As Salah put it in his piece with Sky Sports, the pair were perfect for each other. It was a working relationship, but one that will endure for decades.
“I think at first in the first call we had,” Salah says in the tribute. “The thing that stuck in my mind was him explaining to me he wanted me to come here,” Salah told Sky Sports. “And he basically explained to me that he was building a new team at the club and Sadio [Mane] and Bobby [Firmino] are there and he wanted me to play in the side.
“My football, he said: ‘I am going to improve your football and give you the freedom to do what you want’. And then I was like okay, I am going to come. I came and then the rest, you can see.
“We are here for seven or eight years together so there are too many moments [to choose] but I think winning the Premier League in that game, when Chelsea beat Man City and also winning the Champions League is a thing that sticks in my mind because there are too many emotions involved.
“I always look at this situation as a human being. He improved me as a player for sure and I helped him a lot as a manager for sure, we helped each other a lot and we gave everything to the club to win trophies, everyone can see that.
“But the thing I take from that as a human being, as a person, if I am in trouble I can speak to him and ask as a person. I think we will keep the communication for sure forever, for life. Because it is not just a relationship with work, we also take it outside and we are going to stay in contact forever.”
Salah’s words in the film that was shown directly to Klopp by Sky Sports – despite the frustrations shown by both in that draw in London on April 27 – present a more accurate depiction of how the pair will now say goodbye. The subsequent social media post that followed did likewise.
“It was great sharing all those trophies and experiences with you over the past 7 years,” Salah wrote on Monday afternoon, in one final manager to his departing boss. “I wish you the best of luck for the future and hope we meet again.”
And as evidenced by the 211 goals and eight trophies collected during that time, it was a partnership that was more often than not perfectly in tune.