Mohamed Salah: Liverpool head coach Arne Slot delivers update on forward after restoring him to squad for Brighton win
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said there is “no issue to resolve” with Mohamed Salah after he impressed off the bench in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Brighton at Anfield.
Salah had been removed from selection for the Champions League win at Inter after he said he no longer had a relationship with Slot following Liverpool’s 3-3 draw at Leeds United last Saturday.
But Slot brought Salah back into the squad against Brighton after they held talks on Friday and he impressed off the bench, setting up Hugo Ekitike’s second goal from a corner in his final game before leaving for AFCON with Egypt.
“For me, there is no issue to resolve,” Slot said after the win that moved Liverpool up to sixth in the table.
“He is now the same as any player. You talk to your players if you are happy or unhappy with things but there is nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds after the game.”
Salah made history on Liverpool return
Mohamed Salah has 277 goal involvements for Liverpool in the Premier League (188 goals, 89 assists) – now the all-time record by a player for a single club in the competition, overtaking Wayne Rooney’s 276 for Manchester United (183 goals, 93 assists).
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Liverpool’s win against Brighton in the Premier League
Salah stopped to applaud the Anfield crowd, who sung his name all afternoon after he entered the fray, before departing for AFCON, but gave no indication that this was a farewell for good.
Asked if it was his last game for Liverpool, Slot said: “He wasn’t the only player who walked around the pitch thanking the fans because the fans deserved a thank you from us.
“Our players worked incredibly hard to keep a clean sheet and for the first time in weeks, maybe months, we had a little bit of luck.
“Mo is going to go the AFCON now. I hope he is going to do very well and in the meantime we have to play here without him with not that many players available.”
Mohamed Salah replaces the injured Joe Gomez after 26 minutes in the win over Brighton
Asked if Salah had indicated he wants to stay at Liverpool, Slot added: “I think you already know the answer to that.
“What has been said between the two of us in that conversation stays between us. What you see is what you get to know, that he was in the squad and my first substitution.
“All the other things that have been said in that conversation, I never speak about when I speak to Virgil [van Dijk] or Mo [Salah] or any other player. I never tell you guys what we talk about.”
Salah delivered a much-improved performance after replacing the injured Joe Gomez in the first half at Anfield and Slot wants him to bring that form back with him once he returns from AFCON.
Asked if he hopes Salah comes back and continues in that vein, Slot said: “Yeah. He’s a Liverpool player and the moment he’s [here] I like to use him when we need him,” added Slot.
“Today he didn’t start as he did a few times before but in the one and a half seasons before he started every game. Today when he came in he had a performance like you would want him to give.
“He was close to another assist – I think he was shocked to see Virgil next to him in that long sprint. He was close to scoring but he was a threat and that’s very important. When you play with attackers you are hoping he is a threat to the other team.”
