Jurgen Klopp told Mohamed Salah something he's never told any other player after Liverpool plan changed

Jurgen Klopp has saluted the relentless desire of record-breaker Mohamed Salah – as he revealed the unusual message he gave the Liverpool forward.

Salah became the first Reds player in history to score at least 20 goals in seven successive seasons when he netted in the 6-1 Europa League round of 16 second leg romp over Sparta Prague at Anfield on Thursday that ensured a 11-2 aggregate triumph.

The 31-year-old was making his first Liverpool start since New Year’s Day having been absent first through international duty and then a hamstring complaint.

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And of Salah’s new landmark, Klopp said: “The stat is not really surprising, because he is an outstanding player.

“I’m less surprised than maybe some others, I thought it had already happened to be honest but he was injured for a while, otherwise he would have done it in January or February. But great, very good, and great to have him back.

“In seven years together with him, the one problem we never had was consistency. Mo is just delivering and delivering and delivering, his desire doesn’t stop, his quality is there and his desire to score doesn’t stop. He has improved in so many aspects since he started here. That’s how it is, he will not stop.”

Liverpool had planned on substituting Salah - who also laid on goals for Bobby Clark, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai - with around 20 minutes remaining only for Clark to pick up an ankle injury that forced him to be replaced.

And Klopp explained: “Mo is a special story, it was not the plan that he plays 90 minutes, the plan was to take him off when we brought on