Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchinson says head coach Arne Slot has emerged the ‘winner’ following the fallout of Mohamed Salah’s explosive interview
Arne Slot has emerged stronger following the fallout from Mohamed Salah’s explosive interview. And the legendary Liverpool forward will remain with the club until the summer at the least.
That’s the view of former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison, who believes the send off Salah received at Anfield on Saturday after his recall to the Liverpool squad will convince him to stay in January.
The 33-year-old was brought back into the fold for the 2-0 Premier League win at home to Brighton & Hove Albion following face-to-face talks with Reds head coach Slot.
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Salah was left out of the travelling squad for last Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League victory at Inter after he accused the club of ‘throwing him under the bus’ and claiming he no longer had a relationship with his manager after he was named as a substitute for the third Premier League game running for the first time in his goal and trophy-laden Liverpool career.
But after Salah stepped off the bench to help the defending champions beat Brighton, Slot that “there is no issue to resolve”.
And Hutchison said: “I think the clear winner out of this debacle is Arne Slot because Mo Salah said what he said, and everyone’s got their opinion on it. Fundamentally, when you criticise the coach in private, it’s basically fine. We’ve all done it. We’ve never really done it in public, but you have spats in training.
“However, the minute you bring the football club into the equation and the minute he said, ‘Liverpool have thrown me under the bus’, then you have to then face the consequences. You can’t just walk around in life in general and just go about willy-nilly, just hammering and criticising everyone. You’re going to have to face the consequences.
“So Arne Slot was forthright in his opinion to not take him to San Siro for the Inter game. Liverpool played really well. They got the win – Slot wins out of that.
“Then he put him on the bench against Brighton, brought him on and Mo Salah’s attitude was brilliant. I thought he was excellent. It was a superb team performance.
“Again, I think the winner is Arne Slot, because Mo Salah probably realises now if he gets in a battle and tries to turn the Liverpool fans for him or the manager, I think the Liverpool fans have shown who they’re going to back – that’s going to be the manager. When he comes back from AFCON, he’s going to have to fall into line.”
The Reds supporters made a point of showing their support on Saturday to both Slot and Salah, whose assist for Hugo Ekitike’s second goal meant he broke Wayne Rooney’s record (276) for most goal involvements for one Premier League club (188 goals, 89 assists).
At the end of the match the talismanic forward, who has now met up with his Egypt internationals team-mates ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, looked emotional after he showed his appreciation to the fans.
And Hutchison continued: “I think he will stay. I got the impression when he was walking around Anfield, when he went to the four corners of the stand, he was applauding Liverpool fans and they sang his name really loudly.
“It was quite passionate the way they were singing his name. I got the impression when he was walking around clapping them, he was thinking, ’I really want to leave this? Do I want to leave this now? Could there be a better send off?’
“So I don’t think he’ll go in January. The summer’s a different question because it will be Liverpool’s last chance at getting some money for him before he goes on a free the year after.
“My gut feeling is he will not go in January. They’ll have Mo Salah until the end of the season. Then let’s just see what happens there with his relationship with Arne Slot. Let’s see if it’s mendable and see if they can fix it.”
The Saudi Pro League, now home of Cristiano Ronaldo, has long been interested in Salah, while MLS in the United States, now home of Lionel Messi, could also be an option should he decide to leave the Reds.
But Hutchison, who made 60 appearances for Liverpool in the early 1990s, scoring 10 goals and helping himself to nine assists, believes the Egypt captain is not ready for either move.
“I think he’s still got more to offer,” the former Scotland international said to oddsboom.co.uk. “The trouble is he’s on hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, so there’s only a couple of clubs in Europe that could pay that.
“He’s not going to go to Man City. I think PSG are pretty much stacked in wide areas with fast, young players, so they wouldn’t need to pay the money. I don’t see anyone else in Europe buying him. I don’t see Bayern paying that amount of money. Especially when they’ve got (Michael) Olise, (Serge) Gnabry, and (Lennart) Karl, who’s a fantastic teenager.
“So you’re probably looking at the MLS or the Saudi market for where he goes. But personally, I think it feels like the right thing to do is two years at Liverpool, and then just have the best send off ever. Just don’t go under a cloud.
“Try and win a trophy for Liverpool whether it’s this season or next season. Go out on a high and then he will go down as a Liverpool icon, a Liverpool legend, and he’ll go in the right manner.”
