Jurgen Klopp was never worried about the prospect of losing both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah because it was "always clear" the latter would stay at Liverpool.
Mane's Liverpool future came into question towards the end of the season, with rumours suggesting he was ready to leave with one year left on his contract.
In the end, his €41million (£35.2m) transfer to Bayern Munich went through quite quickly in June after Liverpool secured the signing of Darwin Nunez from Benfica.
But Mane's decision to leave did, at the time, cause concern among Liverpool fans because Salah also had only 12 months to run on his contract.
Media speculation suggested contract talks with Salah had been dragging on for a while, but it was finally announced on July 1 that the Egypt star signed a new deal that runs until June 2025.
Despite the seemingly protracted nature of the negotiations, Klopp insists he was always fairly relaxed regarding Salah's future.
"I knew it would happen, it was always clear Mo wants to stay – that was always the message," Klopp told Liverpool's official website.
"I spoke to him obviously and it was always clear: 'I want to stay.' But it's an important contract, different things have to be considered and that's what takes time sometimes.
"We cannot always fulfil the expectations from the outside world – 'there's an ending contract, next year it will end, so sort it now.'
"Things need time, but we are obviously experienced enough to deal with these kind of things. He is very happy now that he can extend his time here.
"We are very happy, a world-class player. Imagine you have to sign Mo Salah now; he's in another club and you want a player with the numbers he created over the years. It's pretty much not possible, but we have him and he wants to stay – very good news."
Klopp was eager to pay tribute to Mane once again, however.
He lauded the Senegal star as one of the Premier League's greatest players and expressed his gratitude for the amicable nature of Mane's parting of ways with the Reds.
"Sadio, what can we say about Sadio, hey? What a player, a world-class player," he continued.
"He and we together reinvented him as a No.9 as well in the last season, which he played outstandingly well.
"I like the way [the transfer] happened now because it was completely clean. We knew, he told us, his agent told us, they wanted to leave, they wanted to have a new challenge, find a new club.
"[It's] never easy negotiations – it's all good until we talk about money, but that worked then really well.
"So, as well a Liverpool legend, one of the all-time Premier League greats, I would say, with the numbers he has. A fantastic person as well.
"So, really happy for him that he is now at the club where he wants to be. He is very thankful for all the things we did, and we are very thankful. Now he is at another club."
Liverpool will face rivals Manchester United in their first pre-season friendly on Monday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kane gunning for Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record
Harry Kane has his eyes set on Robert Lewandowski's single-season Bundesliga goal record after scoring twice in Bayern Munich's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, though he knows he needs "to get a move on".
Kane scored in both halves on Saturday to take his tally to 42 goals this season across all competitions, also reaching the 400-goal mark at senior level for clubs and country.
The striker scored 280 of those goals for Tottenham, holding the honour of being the club's all-time leading scorer, while he is also the most prolific player in England history with 62 goals for the Three Lions.
With 35 goals in 31 Bundesliga appearances this season, Kane now has his eyes set on another piece of history.
Former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Bundesliga campaign, netting 41 times in 2020-21.
Asked about the possibility of breaking that record with just three games remaining in Bayern's league campaign, Kane said: "It's possible, but obviously I have to get a move on!
"I've got to maybe score a few goals next week. It's there, it's in touching distance.
"It depends on the last few games of course, but it was nice to add to it today and score a couple of goals to help the team."
Bayern next host Real Madrid in the first leg of a Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, before travelling to face Stuttgart on Saturday.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
Huddersfield all but relegated from Championship while League Two play-off spots decided
Huddersfield Town saw their relegation from the Championship all but confirmed after a 1-1 draw with fellow strugglers Birmingham City on Saturday.
The Terriers avoided a defeat that would have seen them relegated on Saturday, but even a win on the final day over promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town will not be enough unless they overcome a huge goal difference of 15 goals with Plymouth Argyle.
Birmingham remain in the other relegation place and now must beat Norwich City to stand a chance of staying up with Sheffield Wednesday, Plymouth and Blackburn Rovers also still in danger.
At the other end of the table, the Canaries dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City, leaving the door open for Hull City, who face Ipswich Town later today.
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