Mohamed Salah once admitted he actually cried when one former Liverpool teammate left the club
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Liverpool could see a number of incredibly popular and – indeed – legendary players leave the club this summer.
Reds supporters have had to get used to big stars exiting Anfield in recent times, with almost all of Jurgen Klopp’s all-conquering team of 2018-2022 having departed.
Some of those transfers have been incredibly hard to take. Roberto Firmino leaving in 2023 really hit home, for example, while Jordan Henderson’s unexpected exit in the same year was tough for a number of reasons.
Then, after seeing his winning team largely fade away, Klopp left Liverpool in the mother of all departures last summer.
This could even be topped this year if Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold all leave at the end of their current contracts at Anfield.
Should Salah go, there is unlikely to be a dry eye in the house as the Reds wave goodbye to one of the best players in Liverpool history. But while Mo himself leaving may prompt tears among his teammates, the Egyptian once admitted that a less-heralded former Red had him crying upon his own exit.
Mohamed Salah cried during Dejan Lovren goodbye
Salah has become part of the furniture during eight years at Liverpool. During that time he has seen so many players come and go.
But, still, five years on from his free transfer move to Zenit Saint Petersburg, no one has come close to striking up the friendship Salah had with Dejan Lovren.
In 2020, after winning the Premier League together, Salah saw Lovren call time on his Liverpool career after falling down the defensive pecking order.
And as he admitted while speaking to Sky Sports Premier League in January 2021, Liverpool’s Egyptian King couldn’t help but cry when it was time to wave Lovren off.
“I think we were crying outside!” Salah laughed. “When I knew that he’s leaving already we shared a really emotional moment.
“I was happy for him because he wanted to go but I was also sad because he’s a good friend of mine and we’re still in touch until now.
“We talk from time to time,” Mo answered when asked if he and Lovren were still calling each other. “We keep texting each other every couple of days, we stay in touch.”
Who was Salah’s best friend at Liverpool after Lovren?
Before admitting to his tears over Lovren, Salah had been asked who his best friend at Liverpool had become since the Croatian left.
“At the moment Kostas [Tsimikas],” he answered. “I’m close to Kostas. Also Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri] sometimes.”
Fast forward four years from this first interview, and Salah told TNT Sports Mexico in January 2025 that Tsimikas is still his good friend.
“I'm close to Kostas, I'm close to Dominik [Szoboszlai],” he said after surprisingly revealing Eden Hazard as his best friend in football.
“Virgil [van Dijk] also, we've been together eight years so we have so much respect for each other. I like Trent [Alexander-Arnold] a lot but he's crazy! He doesn't like to talk but I love him. Robbo [Andy Robertson] also. Robbo's more talking, Trent more listening but they both do what they want."
