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Every word Arne Slot said on Mohamed Salah falling-out
Tom Weber
- 8 Dec 2025 19:46 GMT
- 7 min read
News
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has faced the media for the first time since Mohamed Salah's outburst on Saturday.
The Egyptian forward spoke to the press in the mixed zone after the Reds slumped to a 3-3 draw with promoted Leeds United at Elland Road. For the third straight game, Salah was merely a substitute and an unused one for the second time.
The 33-year-old accused Liverpool of "throwing me under the bus" and revealed that the relationship with Slot was broken. He also claimed that "someone" at the club is trying to force him out.
Current ETV
Mohamed Salah
F (CR), M (R)
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah
F (CR), M (R)
Liverpool
ETV Range
€36.1M - €44.1M
Salah went on to imply that Saturday's game against Brighton at Anfield could be his last for the Reds, as the transfer window will be open by the time he returns from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The veteran attacker's decision to air his grievances in public has naturally entailed consequences. Although Salah trained as usual on Sunday and Monday, sporting director Richard Hughes, in consultation with Slot, elected to omit the player from the travelling party that set off for Milan.
Slot breaks silence on Salah spat
Liverpool will face Inter at the San Siro in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Hughes wanted to show that Salah is fighting a losing battle if he is trying to get Slot sacked. Club chiefs continue to back the Dutchman despite poor results this season.
On Monday evening, Slot faced the media for his customary pre-match press conference for the first time since Salah's incendiary interview. Understandably, given Salah's stature at the club, Slot was quite evasive and conciliatory.
"The only one who can answer that question is Mo himself," Slot responded when asked if Salah was referring to him when he said he had been thrown under the bus. "I can guess, but I don't think that's the right thing to do at this moment in time. It's hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest."
Slot revealed that contact with Salah had been limited to a brief exchange since the events on Saturday. "We let him know that he's not travelling with us. That was the only communication that's been there from us to him. Of course, before Saturday, the two of us spoke a lot, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter."
The coach insisted that he does not view his relationship with Salah as being "broken." "No, that's not the way I feel," Slot said, "but he has the right to feel how he feels. I hadn't felt that at all until Saturday evening, for sure.
"When I didn't play him anymore, usually players don't like the manager then that much, but he was very respectful to my staff members, to his teammates, and he trained really hard. To an extent, it was a surprise for me when I heard after the game that he gave the comments he gave.
"But, as I said, it's not the first and not the last time that when a player doesn't play that he says something similar to what he did. I think my reaction to that is also clear, and that is that he is not here with us tonight."
Slot refused to give a definitive answer on whether Salah would be considered for selection against Brighton and going forward. "We're sitting here on an evening before a big game, a big fixture for us, Inter Milan.
"There was only maybe 36 hours between the moment we conceded the 3-3 against Leeds and the moment I'm sitting here now. I think you can understand as well that I've tried to prepare my team in the best possible way for the game tomorrow evening.
"The most thoughts I had are about tomorrow. In the meantime, we've decided not to take him with us to the game. After tomorrow, we will look at the situation again.
"I'm a firm believer that there is always a possibility to return for a player," Slot added. Asked about Salah's reaction to the news that he wouldn't travel with the team to Milan, Slot laughed and simply said, "A short one."
The Dutchman then admitted that the decision to drop Salah to the bench in recent games was informed by his team's inability to cope with the game plan of opponents, an issue that dates back to the latter stages of the previous campaign.
"I think we as a team struggled this season and already last season more and more with the game plans other teams had against us," he explained. "I'm not only talking about the long-ball style, which is something they mainly do against us now.
"I've tried to come up with solutions. That is my job. We've tried many things, and we looked very vulnerable, in my opinion, after all the things I tried against Forest and against PSV.
"I decided to play with an extra midfielder in the game against West Ham, where we won the game. I decided to do it one more time against Sunderland, where at half-time I brought him in.
"Against Leeds, we faced a 5-3-2, where I decided to play a 4-4-2 diamond, if you want to look at it like this, with Hugo Ekitike a bit off the right side and Cody Gakpo a bit off the left, with Florian Wirtz in between. I could have played Mo off the right as well instead of Hugo, but I decided to play Hugo."
Worryingly for Liverpool fans, Slot stated that he had "no clue" and that he could "not answer that question at this moment in time" when asked if Salah had played his final game for the Reds.
When queried about his own position and whether his authority had been undermined, Slot expressed more concern about the team than himself. "It's not about me. If my life is difficult, yes or no, that's not very important in a situation like this."
Circling back to Salah's comments about being thrown under the bus, Slot reiterated that he did not know what the Egyptian was referring to. "It is difficult for me to know exactly what he means with it and why he says this, and who he is referring to.
"Usually, I'm calm and polite, but it doesn't mean I'm weak. If a player has these comments about so many things, then it's about me, and us as a club, to react, and we reacted in the way you can see now that he's not here."
Asked if he could have done things differently to avoid things coming to a head, Slot again emphasised that he would first have to know why exactly Salah felt compelled to make such strong comments.
"Then I should find out exactly why he said what he said. But then I have to guess a little bit. If it's only because he doesn't play, then the answer to your question could be to just play him every single time, but maybe that's not the reason why he said what he said.
"Maybe there's something else why he has this opinion, but that I don't know. Is it about me not playing him? Yeah, then the answer to what I could have done differently could be playing him.
"But maybe that's not the reason why he thinks and feels this way. He has every right to feel what he feels, but he doesn't have the right to share it with the media. Well, he has that right, but then it's up to us to react to it."
Slot finished up by clarifying that Salah was informed of his Inter omission in a group setting and not in a personal discussion, although he insisted that he had two conversations with the player in the build-up to the Leeds game.
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