Liverpool manager Arne Slott will speak to Mo Salah on Friday, “the outcome of which will determine” whether he plays against Brighton on Saturday.
Slott said earlier this week he had “no idea” whether Salah had played his last game for Liverpool, but appeared to soften that stance ahead of the weekend game after revealing he and the club had been in talks with Salah and his representatives throughout the week.
Salah has not started any of Liverpool’s last four games and after being an unused substitute against Leeds last weekend, he claimed in a bombshell interview that the club had “thrown him under the bus” and said his relationship with Slott had become non-existent.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Mo Salah’s bombshell interview after Liverpool’s draw with Leeds
The club later decided to drop him from the traveling squad that won 1-0 at Inter Milan on Tuesday, the same day Salah posted a photo on Instagram of himself training in the on-field gym.
When asked on Friday if Salah had played his last game for the club, Slott said: “I will speak to Mo this morning. The outcome of that conversation determines what it looks like tomorrow.”
“What I need is a talk with him and the next time I talk about Mo it should be with him and not here. I have nothing more to say about that. I’ll talk to him today and the outcome of that talk determines how things look tomorrow.”
“You can try it in a number of ways, the next time I speak I should be with him. We’ve spoken a lot in the last week, after the Sunderland game, there’s been a lot of talk between his representatives and our representatives, between him and me.
“After the Sunderland game I will still speak to him again today.”
More to come…
Mers: Liverpool owe the trophy to Salah
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Paul Merson is standing by Mohamed Salah after his explosive interview – in which he took aim at Arne Slott – saw him left out of Liverpool’s squad to beat Inter Milan.
Paul Merson has come to the defense of Mohamed Salah following his claims that Liverpool “threw him under the bus”, suggesting the club’s trophy cabinet would be much emptier without the Egyptian.
“I’m on Mo Salah’s side. I think he got too much stick.”
“Maybe he shouldn’t have done what he did, but he’s a human being. He’s a winner. He’s a legend. The numbers he’s put up on the wing – goals and assists – are off the charts. We’ll never see that again, in my opinion.
“All he did was say he wanted to play football. He has a hump because he doesn’t play. How could you be slaughtered for that?”
“There are other players in the team who could have dropped out and he’s probably thinking ‘we’re not very good and I’m not playing’. I just think it’s wrong.
“Liverpool wouldn’t have won anything if it wasn’t for Mo Salah. You take away his goals and assists and I don’t think there’s a trophy in that cabinet for a while.”