Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai admits Mohamed Salah’s pointed message over being dropped by Arne Slot last month was a difficult moment for the club
Dominik Szoboszlai admits it was “not nice” to see team-mate Mohamed Salah hit out at his treatment by Liverpool last month, but insists the Reds should be looking forward to his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Salah hit the headlines when he gave an extraordinary interview to assembled journalists after Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United on December 6, claiming that he had been “thrown under the bus” by the Reds and hinting that his relationship with Arne Slot was broken.
Slot responded by omitting Salah from the travelling party for the Champions League trip to Inter Milan, where the Reds earned a 1-0 victory thanks to Szoboszlai’s penalty, before the Egyptian returned to the matchday squad to face Brighton in the Premier League, coming on in the first half of a 2-0 win.
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Salah then headed to Morocco to play at AFCON, where he has so far scored three goals as Egypt have advanced to the quarter-finals. He remains unavailable for Liverpool while he’s at the tournament, and Szoboszlai is backing him to impress when he returns.
“It was not nice to see it,” the Hungarian told Sky Sports when recalling the Salah row. “He is professional enough to handle the situation. I never got involved.
“I was there for him every day, if he wanted to talk to someone and if he needed help. He has the character to deal with this situation.
“Everybody hopes that he is going to come back after AFCON and help us in the same way he did last season, but that is his decision and the club’s decision.
“As a friend and team-mate, I love playing with him. I know what he is able to do. Last season, he showed that he is able to do anything.”
Szoboszlai will be a key player for the Reds when they take on table-topping Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday, but the versatile midfielder has warned the Gunners that they can’t think that they are champions just yet.
“It’s a long way (to go). The Premier League is not easy. You don’t win it by January,” he said.
“So I don’t think we are playing against the champions. They’re playing against the champions. And that’s probably (something) they know as well, we know as well.
“Of course they are one of the favourites for this year – unbelievable team, really good players. But we shouldn’t also forget about Man City, about Villa, who are doing very good.
“No, we don’t play against the champions. They play against the champions.”
