Decision to include the Egyptian came after he held private talks with Arne Slot
Mohamed Salah has been included in Liverpool’s squad for Saturday’s Premier League game against Brighton following discussions with head coach Arne Slot.
The decision ends the uncertainty around the 33-year-old’s immediate future and allows him to leave for the Africa Cup of Nations next week with his situation at least temporarily resolved.
Salah was dropped from the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League win at Inter Milan after his explosive comments following last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Leeds United. In that now infamous interview he also suggested the Brighton match could be his last for Liverpool before leaving for Egypt’s Afcon campaign.
Slot said on Friday that he would speak directly with Salah ahead of team selections for the Brighton game, and after the conversation the player has been included in the squad.
Details of what was said between manager and player are of course private, and it is not known whether Salah offered an apology or reached an agreement on the way forward, but Liverpool clearly judged it in the best interests of both parties to reintegrate him for the weekend.
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning,” Slot said in his pre-match news conference. “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.”
Asked if he wanted Salah to stay at Anfield beyond January, Slot said he had “no reasons not wanting him to stay”.
Slot also mentioned that the decision as to whether or not to include Salah would be his to make.
“I think we decided as a club – and I was part of that decision – not to take him to Inter Milan,” Slot said. “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.”
