With no resolution appearing on the horizon between Mohamed Salah and Liverpool manager Arne Slot, Gary Lineker has offered his thoughts on the situation
Gary Lineker has warned Mohamed Salah he will “regret” his attack on Arne Slot, especially if his Liverpool legacy sours. Salah, 33, played no part in the Reds’ impressive 1-0 away victory over Inter Milan at the San Siro.
After the Egyptian was left behind, he uploaded a cryptic photograph of him training at the gym on his own. His mixed-zone tirade after Liverpool’s 3-3 away draw with Leeds United has been widely condemned, with Jamie Carragher firing an eight-minute rebuke.
Lineker, on the other hand, believes the forward may have allowed his emotions to get the better of him after being named on the bench for the third match in a row. The former Match of the Day host urged Salah to resolve his differences with Slot to protect his Liverpool legacy.
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Speaking on ‘The Rest is Football podcast’, Lineker said: “I find it a little bit sad. A lot of the footballing world are attacking Mo and I understand why.
“I just hope his legacy is not spoiled. I think he’s just got a bit emotional and he got caught out at the wrong time, having not been brought on.
“I wonder if he regrets it now. I saw him post on Instagram of him just in the gym totally on his own. I hope they can find a way out of this.
“Maybe Mo can go ‘I’m sorry, I got a bit emotional, I shouldn’t have done it,’ blah, blah, blah, that might sort it out. Otherwise, what are they going to do at the weekend now? I suspect he’ll be out (of the squad) again, because he’s got the Africa Cup of Nations.
“But if they can have a peace conference before he goes, kiss and makeup, go away, play the Africa Cup of Nations, comeback refreshed, reinvigorated, perhaps slightly apologetic. It’d be awful if it ended kind of miserably, after such a wonderful nine years.”
In his pre-match press conference before the clash against Inter, Slot admitted he does not know if Salah will ever play for Liverpool again. As part of his mixed zone comments, Salah insinuated this weekend’s home match against Brighton and Hove Albion could be his final match for Liverpool.
That is assuming Slot is willing to deploy him in the squad again, which is certainly not a guarantee. After former Real Madrid and AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf told Slot he should extend an olive branch to Salah, because “everybody makes mistakes in life” Slot bluntly replied: “Yeah, but, you say everyone makes mistakes in life? Does the player think he’s made a mistake?”
After Seedorf once again pushed Slot to speak to Salah, the Liverpool boss replied: “I haven’t said that I’m not going to talk with him. The next question is: should the initiative come from me or from him?”
This season, Salah has contributed five goals and three assists in 19 appearances in all competitions. Overall, he boasts 250 goals and 116 assists in 420 appearances for the Reds.
Only Roger Hunt and Ian Rush are above Salah in Liverpool’s historic goalscoring charts. Last year, Salah found the net on 34 occasions and also created 23 goals in 52 appearances, as the Reds won the Premier League and reached the League Cup final.
