Perhaps inevitably, pretty much the only thing anyone wanted to talk about with Liverpool manager Arne Slot when he held his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Brighton was Mohamed Salah.
After being Liverpool’s most consistent top performer over eight seasons, Salah has struggled to find his form this season and found himself benched for three matches in a row before going public about his unhappiness, leading to the player being left out of the travelling squad to face Inter
Milan mid-week.
Now, Saturday’s game against Brighton at Anfield is the club’s final game before Salah heads off to join Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations. The player has suggested it could end up being his last as a Red. If he plays at all.
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning and the outcome of that conversation will determine what happens tomorrow,” Slot said when pressed as to whether or not Salah would have a part to play on Saturday.
“What I need is a conversation with him and I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying but there is not much more to say about it that I speak to him today and, like I said, the outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow.”
The gathered press did not, you will be shocked to learn, stop asking questions about Salah, Salah’s potential future at the club, Salah’s relationship with Slot, what if any path back to regular playing time might exist, or etc.
“Like I said, that’s just another way of asking,” Slot reiterated when asked whether he wants Salah to continue to be a part of the club and his squad, “but the next time I talk about Mo should be with him. I have no reasons not wanting him to stay. I’ll say that, if it it’s a little bit of an answer to your question.”
