Arne Slot considers his row with Mohamed Salah to be over after he welcomed the Egyptian star back into the side against Brighton, but the January transfer window could change things
Arne Slot had a difficult job dealing with Mohamed Salah(Image: Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah has left for the Africa Cup of Nations after losing his power struggle with Liverpool manager Arne Slot. Salah and Slot appear to have buried the hatchet after a tumultuous few weeks, but his future at the club remains uncertain with the January transfer window approaching.
Salah claimed that Slot had thrown him under the bus by leaving him on the bench to try and arrest Liverpool’s slump. He said he no longer had any kind of relationship with his manager and was subsequently left out of the squad to face Inter Milan in the Champions League last week.
Slot held clear-the-air talks with Salah and brought him back into the fold for the weekend’s 2-0 win over Brighton. The Egyptian contributed an assist after coming off the bench as an early substitute and received a hero’s welcome from the Anfield crowd in his last game before AFCON.
The situation remains unresolved, with Salah having been linked with a transfer to Saudi Arabia. But former Liverpool player Don Hutchison believes Slot has come out of it with his power strengthened and is therefore the winner.
READ MORE: Transfer news LIVE: Salah to STAY at Liverpool, Man Utd’s £200m plan, Semenyo latestREAD MORE: Jamie Carragher makes Mo Salah ‘regret’ plea after Liverpool icon’s farewell message
“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,” he told oddsboom. “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 gonna 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.
Saudi Arabian sides remain interested in Mo Salah(Image: Getty Images)
“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.”
Slot himself considers the matter to be over and dealt with. “For me there’s no issues to resolve,” said the Liverpool head coach after the Brighton win.
“He is the same as any other player. You talk to your players if you are happy or unhappy with things. There is nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds after the game.”
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