Mohamed Salah will go away, but the issue will not. Salah returned to the Liverpool side as a substitute against Brighton. Arne Slot may have tried to consign the issue of his remarkable interview at Leeds to the past, but he accepted others will not. “For me, it has settled down, but if the outside world wants to keep talking about it, that’s fine with me,” said the Liverpool head coach. He held talks with Salah on Friday; after being part of the decision to omit him from the squad that went to Italy for the Champions League win over Inter, he then restored him to contention on Saturday.
As Salah heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations, there are likely to be further conversations between the Egyptian’s representatives and the club during the next month. Yet if Slot suggested that the player and manager are reconciled, questions remain unanswered.
Did Salah apologise?
On Monday, explaining why Salah was not taken to Milan, Slot said: “I think usually I’m calm and polite, but that doesn’t mean I’m weak.” On Saturday, after Salah came off the bench to set up Hugo Ekitike’s second against Brighton, he said another manager might have opted for a heavier punishment. “Should he be [out] once, twice, three times, four times, four months or 12 years?” he asked. “Every manager makes different decisions on that.”
Slot said the details of their conversation would remain private, which means it is not yet clear if Salah has withdrawn the extraordinary accusations he made at Elland Road, including that they no longer had a relationship, or apologised. Slot instead said he would treat Salah like everyone else. “For me, there is no issue to resolve. For me, he is now the same as any other player,” he said. And yet the nature of their agreement remains unclear. Does Salah no longer believe he was thrown under a bus?
Does Salah want to stay?
It was tempting to read a lot into Salah’s actions after the final whistle on Saturday, when he patted the badge on his shirt, mouthed “thank you” to supporters and looked emotional. Because of the last week or because he was saying goodbye for more than just a month? As Slot noted, the rest of the team also did a lap of honour and applauded supporters. The Dutchman was asked if Salah is keen to remain at Anfield. “That I think you know,” he replied. “What has been said between us stays between us.”
Salah’s words at Elland Road invited the question of what his endgame was: was this an exit strategy? Because he is a player who has attracted interest from the Saudi Pro League before, and whose preference had always been to stay at Liverpool. And one of his grievances last week was that he had been benched for three consecutive games. That implied his preference was to have his status at Anfield restored.
Is he in Slot’s first-choice team?
Salah was the first substitute Slot summoned on Saturday. It was scarcely a like-for-like switch when he came on for the injured Joe Gomez, so it was an attempt to involve him. Nevertheless, Salah has not started any of Liverpool’s last five games: he was not taken to Milan, was named on the bench for the other four and left there for two of them. It seemed the crux of Salah’s complaints. He seemed to think his past brilliance should guarantee him a spot. “I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it,” he said last week.
So has anything changed? Slot’s initial decision to demote Salah at West Ham owed less to his lack of goals– just five this season – than Liverpool’s need to tighten up defensively after conceding three to Nottingham Forest and four to PSV Eindhoven. Since then, they have had three clean sheets in five games. But Slot also noted that Brighton had plenty of chances on Saturday: most of their 14 shots came after Salah came on. Perhaps, in the next month, Liverpool will find a defensive balance that will allow them to reintroduce the scorer of 250 goals for them. Yet it could also mean that, by the time Salah returns, Liverpool will have played 12 games without him starting and found a formula.
Who plays on the right?
In one respect, Liverpool planned for life after Salah in the summer, investing some £300m in other attacking talents in the shape of Alexander Isak, Ekitike and Florian Wirtz. In another, they really did not. He is the only specialist right winger in the squad, with the possible exception of Federico Chiesa, whom Slot is reluctant to start.
He has name-checked right-back Jeremie Frimpong as an option on the wing, but he has been injured. He has used the ultra-versatile Dominik Szoboszlai on the right of midfield since dropping Salah, but has also said he does not see the Hungarian as the long-term choice there or expect him to be playing there in February or March. That could mean a return for Salah, or the signing of a new winger, such as Antoine Semenyo.
A further question in Liverpool’s search for a strategy is that only one of their attackers, Ekitike, has played so well that he merits being an automatic choice, and yet, because of Isak, he is not.
Would Liverpool accept an offer?
That may, in turn, reflect how big the offer was, and, realistically, it may only come from Saudi Arabia. Salah has 18 months left on his contract and his salary makes him one of the best-paid players in the league. If his deal is worth £400,000 a week, that amounts to more than £30m. If he is not a starter, owners Fenway Sports Group may prefer to cash in. And, in turn, any decision could involve the question of whether Salah is in decline or just a player who has not found top form this season.
Those are all debates that predated the 33-year-old’s outburst at Leeds. Some elements have changed: on Monday, Slot said he had “no idea” if Salah had played his last game for Liverpool. Now he has played one more. Slot has said he expects Salah back after Afcon. Teammates have said they hope he stays. But with much still kept private, the proof may only arrive if he returns to contention next month.
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