Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Mohamed Salah is staying at Liverpool despite the lack of Champions League football next season.
The Egyptian star made headlines after Manchester United secured the final qualification spot, when he tweeted his disappointment at the Reds' failure to land a berth in Europe's premiere competition.
He spoke of the competition as the "bare minimum" for the club and apologised to the fans for his own and his teammates performances, saying that there is "no excuse" and that it is too soon to think optimistically.
However, his manager is not worried that the 30-year-old wants to leave the club in order to play in the tournament as a result of the tweet.
"Mo loves being here. Mo was part of it. He said apologies for what we did, not for what the other guys did but I had to go with them, not at all, it is all fine.
“If ever a player would come to me 'oh we did not qualify for the Champions League, I have to leave', I would drive him to the other club.
“I would say, 'Take the key, come in the car, where do you want to go? I'll drive you', because that would be something I never could understand.
“It is like I would say 'We didn't qualify for the Champions League, I need to work in the Champions League, so I go.'
“I am responsible for this mess or whatever, so you cannot go in these moments, it is not the case, not at all and nobody has told me.
“They asked me if they can have a day longer holiday or whatever, but nobody ask me if after holiday they have to come back, so that was not in our conversations."
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'We want to win Europa League'
Asked about the idea of the Europa League being a prize you do not want, the German insisted that the ultimate aim is to win the competition.
"Not for me. I understand where you are coming from. Football is like that, on the level we usually performed it is about Champions League, because of the money, the opponents, these types of things.
“I love European competitions, so it will difficult opponents, different countries probably, and in the end, a massive prize to win.
“Not that I say we will do that just we will try.
“I am 100% sure, in the moment, people think, 'ah yeah, it is European League', first whistle, european night, thursday night, whoever is the opponent, Anfield will be rocking, that is all I need.
“If somebody wants to go through the year and think that is not Champions League, I cannot help that person.
“Life is like this, you try everything until it is decided, then you accept it and go from there, if you are constantly worrying what you could have done differently, absolutely not important anymore, not helpful.
“I am looking forward to the new season, really looking forward to the new season, that is all I need. We will be all in, we understand that we have to improve.
“If we improve, from the point where we are, we will be probably okay or better, from there, we want to go, we want to make steps.
“It is a different competition, who cares, let's go for that. The idea that you want to go nothing more than on holiday, because this year was long, there were moments in the season where I thought it was five seasons, but that is long ago, we really found a way back to use our skills again in the right way.
“Now it is interrupted by the summer break and by international games and stuff like this, then we come together again, that must be a full throttle start, whatever that leads to, it is not about first game we have to win the league, that is not possible, just to show we are back."
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Postive update on Bajcetic
Finally, the German confirmed that promising youngster Stefan Bajcetic should be around at the start of pre-season but admitted he does not know whether he will fit enough at the start of next season.
"There is progress, I spoke yesterday to the doc, there will be parts of reintegration but that will take time, so he is not in full training, that is the prediction at the moment.
“He is completely pain free, but we talk about a very young player, a very young body, we have to be careful, different injury, but like we had to be super careful with Curtis.
“It is annoying for the player, really annoying, because you can train two days, then need two days off, but you feel great but it is just to not take any risks.
“I hope that he can come with us to training camp, and can do there these bits and from then on, progress, and be fine for the start of the season.
“It is how it is with these kind of injuries, there is no real timeline, you have to wait always for the next assessment, then you have to go from there, but it is positive."