Manager says he has full authority to decide whether or not Salah plays against Brighton
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said he will meet Mohamed Salah on Friday morning to discuss the way forward, as he has no reason to want the player to exit the club.
Salah was omitted from the squad that travelled to Milan for Liverpool’s Champions League win earlier in the week. The decision was taken after his explosive interview following the 3-3 draw at Leeds, where he said he had been “thrown under the bus” and that his relationship with the manager had deteriorated. It was the third consecutive league match he had started on the bench.
Slot will decide whether Salah will be involved for the Brighton game this weekend after he has had a chat with him.
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning,” Slot said. “The outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow. I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here.”
The club has spent much of the week managing the fallout from Salah’s comments. Slot confirmed that discussions have taken place between Liverpool officials, Salah’s representatives and the player himself, even before he gave that interview.
“After the Sunderland game there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, our representatives and him, between him and me,” he said. “Today I will speak to him again.”
Salah is due to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, and his suggestion that Saturday could be his final match for the club has fuelled speculation around a possible January exit. There is interest from the Saudi Pro League, but his future at Liverpool may depend on whether things can be resolved between him and the manager.
“I have no reasons not wanting him to stay, if that is a little bit of an answer,” Slot said.
The club made the decision to drop Salah against Inter Milan, after consulting Slot and getting his approval, but Liverpool’s boss said it was completely his decision to make as to whether or not Salah would play against Brighton.
“I think we decided as a club – and I was part of that decision – not to take him to Inter Milan,” said Slot. “I am always in contact with [sporting director Richard Hughes and chief executive of football Michael Edwards] but when it comes to the decision-making of the line-up or the squad, it is entirely up to me and that will never change, I think.”
