Jurgen Klopp’s signing of Shaqiri for a bargain £13million from Stoke has been questioned because of the Swiss star’s supposedly suspect character.
Gary Neville branded him “unprofessional”, while Phil Neville also weighed in and called him a “disgrace”.
Shaqiri laughed when those accusations were put to him before dismissing them better than a Novak Djokovic return.
“They were Man United players,” he said. “Maybe they don’t like Liverpool! I don’t know, it could be. Some people like you, some people don’t.”
Shaqiri also refuted Charlie Adam’s claim that he went missing last season as Stoke were relegated.
He insisted his conscience was clear and pointed to his return of eight Premier League goals and seven assists as proof that he was Stoke’s best player.
“I think everyone knows that,” said the attacker, who is known as the Alpine Messi. “I think my record speaks for itself.
“I was the top scorer in the team with goals and assists.
“For me, my conscience is clear and I don’t have to comment any more on this.”
It says it all about Shaqiri’s attitude that he cut short his holiday to begin pre-season training this week.
Despite arriving bleary-eyed in New Jersey in the early hours of yesterday after the team flight was delayed nearly eight hours, he says he should be ready to face Manchester United on Saturday.
He is clearly thrilled to be back in the big time with Liverpool, especially because four years ago Bayern Munich rebuffed Brendan Rodgers’ attempt to sign him.
“I spoke to Brendan at that time before the World Cup,” he said. “He called me and I was interested.
“But Bayern said ‘we want you to be here, you’re important for us’.
“Of course, I was disappointed. Every player wants to play on the biggest stages in football.
“I have played for big teams, I know what it takes. I won many titles with Bayern Munich so I know how it is to be on the big stage. I’m really happy to have this opportunity.”
Shaqiri has been reunited with Mohamed Salah at Liverpool and the pair briefly overlapped at Basel in 2012 when the Egyptian was signed as his replacement.
They trained together a couple of times that pre-season, although Shaqiri says he would be fibbing if he said Salah stood out as a future superstar.
“Of course, he’s a very good player, but I would be lying to you if I said he was right there when I saw him,” he said.
“Nobody expected what he did last year and I hope that he can do the same again this year.”
Shaqiri believes he can win trophies under Jurgen Klopp and says he was attracted by the opportunity of playing under the German.
He was on the bench when Bayern beat Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 Champions League Final and said: “I have admired him for a long time.
“His teams play fantastic football and he’s a fantastic person. We want to be successful as a team and I believe we can win titles together.”