Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot, has stated that Mohamed Salah’s availability for Saturday’s match against Brighton will depend on the outcome of a discussion the pair are set to have on Friday morning. Slot also emphasized that he has no reason to want the Egypt international to leave the club.
Salah was left out of Liverpool’s Champions League victory over Inter on Tuesday, following a decision by both the club hierarchy and Slot, who felt a short period away from the squad was necessary after the striker’s critical interview at Leeds.
In that interview, Salah indicated he would “say goodbye to Anfield on Saturday” before joining up with his national team for the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning and the outcome of that conversation determines how it will look tomorrow,” Slot said. “What I need is a conversation with him and the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying but there’s not much more to say other than I will speak to him today and the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow.”
While Slot was cautious about discussing Salah’s situation in detail, he confirmed there had been ongoing discussions with the player’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, before Salah was named as a substitute for a third consecutive game at Leeds last Saturday.
“We have spoken a lot in the last week,” he said. “After the Sunderland game there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, our representatives and him, between him and me, and today I will speak to him again.”
When asked if he expected an apology from Salah before considering him for selection again, Slot simply replied: “Same answer again.”
Although it was the club’s decision to leave Salah out of the Milan trip, Slot insisted that the final say on team selection rests with him.
“I think we decided as a club and I was part of that decision, not to take him to Inter Milan. I am always in contact with them but when it comes to the decision-making of the lineup or the squad they always leave it open to me but that is not to say I don’t talk to them, mainly Richard [Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director] not Michael [Edwards, chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group]. But I talk to him about so many things. The decision to play a player or have him in the squad – as I have experienced until now and I think this will never change – is entirely up to me.”
Despite the recent tension, Slot extended an olive branch regarding Salah’s future at Liverpool.
“I have no reasons not wanting him to stay,” he said. “If that is a little bit of an answer.”
