Arne Slot insists he has “moved on” from the fall out with Mohamed Salah
Arne Slot insists he has “moved on” from the fall out with Mohamed Salah, stating the issue with the Egypt captain is now over.
Salah hasn’t started a game for Liverpool since the 4-1 loss to PSV in the Champions League last month and after beginning three successive games on the bench after 53 consecutive Premier League fixtures, the 33-year-old claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” at Anfield and that his relationship with the head coach had broken down.
Salah was left out of the Champions League trip to Inter on the back of the bombshell claims after the 3-3 draw with Leeds United before a private apology later that week saw him reinstated for the 2-0 victory over Brighton, where he emerged as a first-half substitute for Joe Gomez.
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Speaking in an interview that was broadcast on Sky Sports on Christmas Day, Slot says the controversy is in the past but admits he didn’t want to dwell too much on the situation given Salah is now on Egypt duty for the Africa Cup of Nations, in Morocco.
“When I think when I used him in the squad against Brighton, that was a sign that we had moved on and I brought him in with the first substitution I made,” Slot said. “So we’ve moved on but now he is at the AFCON and they have important games over there, so it is fair to him and the Egypt team that we don’t talk about him as much here when it comes to Liverpool.
“But that is also fair to the players we have here because we are having to play a lot of games as well.
“So I think it is in the best interests of us, for him and Egypt that we have already shown with actions that we have moved on after his Leeds interview and now he needs his full focus on Egypt and we need our full focus over here.”
Liverpool return to action on December 27 when they host rock-bottom Wolves.
