Salah critical of head coach in December after being left out
Slot: ‘The only one who can talk about it is Mo himself’
Arne Slot has no regrets over his treatment of Mohamed Salah and claimed it was entirely the forward’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Liverpool head coach declined to divulge why or when Salah decided to leave the club as he faced the media on Friday for the first time since the Egypt international’s announcement. Slot believes it should be left to Salah to explain the reasons for exiting 12 months before his contract is due to expire.
It was put to Slot that he is perceived in some quarters as the “bad guy” behind Salah’s departure in light of the player’s outspoken criticism at Leeds in December. “But that’s in general at the moment, isn’t it?” he said of his own standing among many Liverpool fans after this season’s disappointments.
Slot, however, insisted he would not have handled the situation with the club legend any differently. He explained: “Yes [he is happy with how he managed it]. I look back at this season thinking that I made a few decisions that could have been better, but I’m not talking about this specific thing with Mo. I don’t regret many things I did during our one-and-a-half years together, or just longer.
“The assumption that if he’s not playing then he wants to leave – then he would have left one-and-a-half years ago [if that was the case]. I remember West Ham away when he wasn’t playing [under Jürgen Klopp in April 2024]. I wasn’t here then. He didn’t decide to leave.
“The assumption is that if you don’t play in these games all of a sudden you want to leave. It is an assumption and maybe it is true or maybe it isn’t, but history has shown he did not do that previously and he had a great season after that.”
Salah had been benched for three games in six days in December when he accused the club of throwing him under a bus for Liverpool’s terrible results and claimed his relationship with Slot was nonexistent. But the coach is not convinced that fallout prompted the 33-year-old to bring a phenomenal Anfield career to an end.
“The only one who can talk about it is Mo himself,” said Slot. “You are making the assumption that he wants to leave because he was out for six days. I’m not sure what you are saying is true. I would be surprised if there’s not a moment when Mo shares his thoughts about why he made the decision he made. It’s not up to me to do that. It’s up to him. And I would not go into all these assumptions. I would be careful with assumptions.”
Liverpool’s head coach also denied that by allowing Salah to leave on a free transfer this summer, the club appears happy to let the forward go. “Those are your words,” said Slot, who could have Alexander Isak on the bench for Saturday’s FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City.
“I think Mo has earned the right completely to decide whenever he thinks he should leave. He’s done so many things for this club. He has to make up his own mind and that’s what he did.”
The visit to City marks the start of a defining period for Liverpool and Slot but, despite the external pressure on his position, the 47-year-old confirmed he is heavily involved in planning for this summer’s transfer window. “Yes I am,” he said. “And I know why you ask this question.”
