Liverpool star Alberto Moreno on how he went from the forgotten man to first choice, Jurgen Klopp's hairdryer treatment and why he is desperate for Philippe Coutinho to stay

• e-mail

It's not quite Steven Gerrard trying to talk Luis Suarez out of moving to Arsenal but Alberto Moreno is doing his best to ensure Philippe Coutinho stays at Liverpool. They have had the heart-to-heart.

'I have told him: “Brother, don’t go”. I can’t tell you what he said to me here, of course, because it’s something that’s very personal,’ he says before a heavy pause.

‘I want him to stay. If I get to decide, Philippe’s not going. But I can’t interfere. It’s Liverpool, Barcelona and him, and they decide.’

Alberto Moreno has gone from an unwanted man at Liverpool to Jurgen Klopp's first choice

The left back was on the verge of leaving Anfield when a move to Napoli was in the offing

He now finds himself back in favour and is ready to return to former club Sevilla in top form

While Coutinho contemplates departure, Moreno is more entrenched than ever. He was on his way to Napoli last summer. 

Liverpool signed Andy Robertson from Hull to replace him. But he has dug in since then, and he goes back to his old club Sevilla on Tuesday night in the Champions League having returned to the Spain squad for the first time since 2014.

It would be a shame for Coutinho to leave now. His best pal at the club is starting to fulfil his potential. And when Moreno looks around, he sees plenty of other reasons to be positive about Liverpool.

‘[Mohamed] Salah is good, very good,’ he says puffing out his cheeks. ‘As a defender, I wouldn’t want to face [Sadio] Mane and Salah. That’s one of the best things about being a starter this year: it means I’m on their team in training. 

'You’re screwed when you are up against them. Having those two running in behind you again and again and again is a nightmare.’

Is Salah the signing of the season? ‘He could be, for sure,' Moreno says. 'His numbers are incredible. He’s scoring almost every game, he’s providing assists and he works incredibly hard for the team. He’s a signing that Liverpool have got absolutely right.’

Moreno has taken it upon himself to try to keep Philippe Coutinho at Anfield

The pair went on holiday together over the summer, when both looked set to leave Liverpool 

The fact that Moreno is not watching all this excitement from the bench, or on cable television in Naples, is down to his own hard work, and, he admits, the combined efforts of a lot of people at the club.

There are honourable mentions for coaches Zeljko Buvac and Peter Krawietz and for nutritionist Mona Nemmer. Jurgen Klopp inevitably casts a benevolent shadow over the whole renaissance.

‘Zelko takes a lot of the sessions but Klopp is such an emotional presence, he can’t just stand there watching. He always takes part, he always intervenes,’ Moreno says.

‘And he has got more hands-on with me this season. Last season he wasn’t picking me because [James] Milner was playing and the team was playing well. I went to see him a few times and he said: “Alberto, you’re doing okay but I can’ t change the team”.

‘This season I’m a starter and he is closer to me. He corrects my mistakes, he improves me more. I’m much happier than I was last season.’

Jurgen Klopp has inevitably cast a benevolent shadow over Moreno's entire renaissance

Zeljko Buvac has worked specifically with Moreno in an effort to rediscover his best form

Part of Moreno’s problem is that until Unai Emery converted him from winger to full-back when he was a 21-year-old at Sevilla he never had to think like a defender.

‘It is true that now I am more focused defensively,’ he says. ‘There’s knowing when to go forward and when not to. Maybe in the first few years at Liverpool I was always thinking “attack, attack, attack”. This year, I hold my position more. I think: First, let’s defend, keep a clean sheet and, only then can we think about getting forward.’

Moreno is all energy, even in conversation. ‘I’ll always have that desire to head off up the pitch,’ he says shuffling to the edge of his seat as if he’s about to set off on a sprint.

‘But you have to be focused. There are times when I want to go and the first thing I do is look. And if we are covered then I go. It’s choosing the moment. It’s making fewer runs forward but making more of them count.’

He listens too. Not just to Klopp barking orders from the touchline but from his centre-backs Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan. They are the ones shouting: “Albi! Stay! Albi you can go! Albi Help!” They’re the ones that most talk to me.’

Moreno has performed well in key games against the likes of Manchester United this season

Moreno has now overtaken James Milner, who was Klopp's chosen left back last season

Andy Robertson (right), signed in the summer to replace Moreno, has had to take a back seat

Moreno’s family were a big help last season too. His says his little girl was his inspiration. And the family are settled on Merseyside with no hang-ups over the climate or the cuisine.

‘People talk a lot about how the food is bad in England but there’s good produce here too and you can eat well. And with Mona the food is very good.’

Mona is Liverpool’s nutritionist signed by Klopp from Bayern Munich in 2016.

‘We have really noticed the change,’ Moreno says. ‘The day before [games] there used to be ice creams and cakes, which isn’t good for footballers.’

She does make allowances for old habits dying hard. ‘I really miss jamón ibérico,’ he says of the Spanish ham he is allowed from time to time, just never on a match day.

So everything is good, right down to the Melwood canteen. Perhaps Coutinho will be the first foreign player to stay in England for the food.

Liverpool nutritionist Mona Nemmer has made a difference at Liverpool since arriving in 2016

Moreno says the whole coaching team that arrived with Klopp has helped him to return to form

‘He’s my friend and always will be and if it was down to me, I’d love him to stay close to me so I can go on enjoying watching him play football. It’s a privilege.

‘Everyone asks me if he’s really that good, and in my opinion, he really is. I see him train every day and I see him do things with the ball that I have never seen before.

‘He’s a big piece of this Liverpool team. Every fan who watches Liverpool and understands football can see it. They know that if he goes, it will leave a big hole. But we’re Liverpool. We have a great squad, great players and we won’t stop being Liverpool.’

Klopp will be glad to hear that. For all the arm-around-the-shoulder stuff he wants a grown-up group at Anfield. One that can survive the occasional departure if it comes and can start turning good football into success.

‘In the day to day, he’s super-happy, nice, and close to the players but at the moment of truth, the day of the game he’s the most serious man in the world and he wants us to be switched on,’ says Moreno of his manager. ‘I’ve seen him angry and it’s not a pretty sight.

‘His blood boils when he sees players not doing what he wants them to do. There are times that we play badly in the first half and at half-time I think he tries to force a laugh out of himself just so as not to hit anyone.’

Moreno says there are times Klopp has to make himself laugh to stop boiling over completely

His Liverpool displays have now seen him stake a claim for a spot at the World Cup with Spain

Moreno is anxious to see some success soon too. ‘We have a team capable of winning things but we have to make it happen,’ he says. ‘We got knocked out of the Carabao Cup at the first hurdle so one of the options has already gone. I have been at Liverpool for four years and I’m desperate to win a trophy; it’s taking its time in coming,’

Can it come this year and in the biggest competition of them all? Moreno’s family will be out in force in Sevilla to see if he can finish on the winning side and secure top spot in the group.

‘I don’t think any team in the competition would like to face Liverpool,’ he says looking as deadly serious as he has at any time during this conversation. ‘Dreaming of the Champions League? It’s a long way off, but why not?

They have a coach who has already reached one final. They have a Spain international at left back once more. And for now at least, they have his friend Coutinho too.