Liverpool manager Arne Slott says there are “no issues to be resolved” regarding Mohamed Salah after he impressed off the bench against Brighton at Anfield on Saturday.
Salah was left out of Inter’s Champions League winning squad after Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United last Saturday, saying he would no longer be associated with the slot.
However, Slott reinstated Salah after a meeting with them against Brighton on Friday, and the substitute made an impact, scoring Hugo Ekitike’s second goal from a corner kick in his final game before heading to the AFCON against Egypt.
“For me, there are no problems to solve,” Slott said after the win, which lifted Liverpool into sixth place.
“He’s like any other player now. He talks to the players about whether they’re happy or dissatisfied with things, but after the game there’s nothing for me to say about what happened against Leeds.”
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Free to watch: Highlights of Liverpool vs. Brighton’s Premier League victory
Before departing for AFCON, Salah applauded the Anfield crowd who continued to sing his name all afternoon after playing in the game, but gave no hint that this was a permanent farewell.
Asked if this was his last game for Liverpool, Slott said: “He wasn’t the only one to walk around the pitch thanking the fans, because they deserve our thanks.”
“Our players worked incredibly hard to keep a clean sheet and for the first time in recent weeks, maybe months, we had a bit of luck.
“Mo is going to play in AFCON now. I hope he does well, but in the meantime we have to play without him here and there aren’t that many players available.”
Mohamed Salah replaced the injured Joe Gomez in the 26th minute in the win against Brighton.
Asked if Salah had indicated he wanted to stay at Liverpool, Slott said: “I think I already know the answer to that.
“What was said between the two of us in that conversation remains between us. What you saw, you will know, is that he was in the team and was my first substitute.”
“Everything else that was said in that conversation, I never talk about it when I talk to Virgil[van Dijk]or Mo[Salah]or any of the other players. I never talk about what we talk about.”
Salah put in a much-improved performance at Anfield in place of the injured Joe Gomez in the first half, and Slott will want him to regain that form when he returns from AFCON.
Asked if he hoped Salah would return and continue that trend, Slott added: “Yes, he is a Liverpool player and the moment he is (here) we want to use him when we need him.”
“What he did today was not just a couple of starts, but a year and a half before he started every game. When he came in today, he put in the kind of performance that everyone wants him to have.”
“He almost had another assist. I think he was shocked to see Virgil next to him in that long sprint. He was close to the goal, but he was a threat and that was very important. When you play an attacker, you expect him to be a threat to the other team.”
