Mohamed Salah is ready to light up the Premier League again after committing his long-term future to Liverpool, claims Jurgen Klopp.
Last season's Golden Boot joint-winner, who shared the prize with Tottenham's Son Heung-min, signed a three-year contract last month to calm fears he could quit Anfield.
Salah's previous deal was due to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season, when he would have been able to walk away as a free agent.
Now that Liverpool have him tied down to fresh terms, the player and club can focus on chasing more trophies, having lifted the FA Cup and EFL Cup last term.
"Knowing where he will be for the next important years of his career – I wouldn't say for the rest of his career because he can play much longer – that gave all of us a boost, him as well," Klopp said.
"It's much better than if there was any contract [to resolve] next summer."
Thirty-year-old Salah's new deal served as a pick-me-up for a club who were pipped at the post for the Premier League and Champions League titles in late May, dashing hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.
There is likely to be at least one new challenger for the league's top scorer prize in the new season, with Erling Haaland having arrived at Manchester City after racking up 86 goals in 89 games for Borussia Dortmund.
Liverpool's new recruit Darwin Nunez may also have an eye on the honour, but Klopp suspects Salah will only be interested in the Golden Boot when the season nears an end.
"People are motivated by different things and i think Mo's biggest motivation is to win football games and to score," Klopp said.
"I don't think he looks about other players and how many they've scored. That may be in May when he has hopefully 34 or 35 and the other two have 32. Then maybe, but before that I can't see that."
Klopp has no doubt Salah would have been motivated to perform even if he had just months left to run on his Anfield deal, but the Liverpool manager accepts there would have been incessant talk about such a scenario.
"Mo would have been the same person, I'm 100 per cent sure he could have pushed that aside as long as he was only with us," Klopp said. "But the world does not stop asking, and that's a problem we are constantly facing.
"It helps, it's much better to know as much as possible, even about the season after."
Salah could match a record in their opening game of the season, with Liverpool tackling Fulham on Saturday.
He has scored in Liverpool's first Premier League game in each of the past five seasons and has seven matchday-one goals to his name, meaning he stands one short of a competition record that is held jointly by Alan Shearer, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, who managed eight each.
The former England trio are three of the Premier League's all-time goalscoring greats, with Shearer's 260 strikes putting him top of the pile. Rooney (208) and Lampard (177) sit second and sixth on the Premier League era goals list.
Salah has scored 118 Premier League goals in 180 outings for Liverpool, putting him 10 away from matching Robbie Fowler's club record in the competition.
Martino resigns as Inter Miami coach after early playoff exit
Gerardo Martino has resigned as Inter Miami's head coach due to personal reasons, the MLS side have confirmed.
The Argentine ends his 17-month stint in charge of the Herons following their MLS Cup exit just under a fortnight ago.
Martino, who oversaw Miami's Leagues Cup triumph soon after his arrival last season, guided the franchise to this year's Supporters' Shield with a regular-season record tally of 74 points.
However, they were eliminated by his former side Atlanta United in round one of the MLS Cup playoffs.
Miami opened their best-of-three series against Atlanta with a 2-1 win, only to lose by the same scoreline in Game 2 before falling to a dramatic 3-2 defeat in the decider.
“It has been an honour to work at such a special club, and to lead such a special team," Martino said.
"I’ve enjoyed my stay at Inter Miami and will treasure the memories made and relationships forged here for the rest of my life.
"I depart with nothing but gratitude for my time here and would like to offer sincere thanks to everyone that made it possible."
Fonseca: Milan have 'respect' but 'are not afraid' of Juventus
Paulo Fonseca said Milan have plenty of "respect" for Juventus, but his side "are not afraid" of their rivals ahead of their Serie A clash on Saturday.
After a slow start to the season, Milan are six points adrift of Juventus in the table, but only a place behind them, as they aim to make up the ground on the top six.
The Rossoneri have played a game less than Thiago Motta's side, and could catapult themselves back into the Scudetto picture with a win this weekend.
Milan return to the San Siro for the first time since a 2-0 defeat to Napoli at the end of October, and could register two consecutive home defeats in Serie A for the first time since between October and November in 2023.
"It is not decisive, but it is important, like all of them," Fonseca told reporters ahead of Saturday's game.
"I can't say that the game against Juve is more important than the next one against Empoli because we need consecutive victories.
"It's a different game, but I always think positively. We are Milan, we have a lot of respect for the 'Bianconeri', but we are not afraid. We are here ready to win."
A boost for Milan is that Juventus will be without top scorer Dusan Vlahovic for Saturday's clash after returning from international duty with a muscle problem.
Despite the Serbian's absence, Fonseca was aware of the danger his probable replacement, Timothy Weah, would pose, having managed him during his time at Lille.
"Juve knows how to adapt very well. I don't know if Weah will play," Fonseca said.
"Weah is very fast and attacks deep, not like Vlahovic. It will not be the same thing of course.
"We will have to pay attention to movements in depth and less to support work, because he is a player who does less of this job."
While Fonseca has endured a stuttering start to his tenure at the San Siro, Milan have shown they have the ability to match the very best.
They beat rivals Inter in October before stunning Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in their last Champions League encounter, keeping their play-off hopes alive.
"I believe it's a matter of motivation and not pressure," Fonseca said.
"Against Inter, Juve and Real it is easy to be motivated, it's more difficult to go to Cagliari and have the same motivation.
"Pressure is always with us, every day. If we don't want to have pressure, then we shouldn't be here."
'Right guy at the right time' - Amorim confident of changing Man Utd's fortunes
Ruben Amorim believes he is the "right guy at the right time" to turn Manchester United's fortunes around.
The 39-year-old signed a two-and-a-half-year deal earlier this month to keep him at Old Trafford until June 2027, replacing Erik ten Hag after he was sacked in October.
Amorim is the sixth permanent United manager since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, having left Sporting CP to take charge during the international break.
He won two Primeira Liga titles as Sporting head coach as well as two Taca da Liga trophies, while he led the club to a perfect start in the league this season, winning all 11 of their games.
United sit 13th in the Premier League table ahead of their trip to Ipswich Town on 15 points, though they are just four points behind Chelsea in third.
Amorim recognised the size of the task ahead of him in Manchester but is confident he can make a change.
"I'm a little bit of a dreamer and I believe in myself, and I believe in the club," he said during his first press conference.
"I think we have the same idea, the same mindset and that can help.
"I truly believe in the players; I know you don't believe a lot, but I do. I want to try new things. You guys don't think it's possible, I do.
"Call me naive, but I believe I am the right guy at the right time. I truly believe I am the right guy."
Aged 39 years and 302 days, Amorim will be the youngest to take charge of his first match for the Red Devils since Wilf McGuinness in August 1969 (31y 288d).
United have won just four of their 11 league games so far this season, and have struggled in front of goal, netting just 12 times so far.
Expected to implement his favoured 3-4-3 formation, Amorim admitted it would take time for the club to adapt and has asked for patience as the players get used to his tactics.
"I know at Manchester United we have to win games. We need a lot of time because it's a tough league, we have to improve a lot to try to win the title," he added.
"We have to change the physical aspect of the team. I don't know how long it will take."
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