Arne Slot Manager of Liverpool congratulates Mohamed Salah - Mohamed Salah's 'last game against Man City' may be because of 115 charges, jokes Arne Slot
Arne Slot will hope to have the services of Mohamed Salah beyond the end of this season
Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager, has joked that Mohamed Salah may have played his last Anfield game against Manchester City because the Premier League champions could be relegated for spending breaches.
Slot was responding to Salah’s post-match remarks after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over City, when the Egyptian once again raised the prospect of being on his farewell lap at Anfield with his contract expiring in July 2025.
“Maybe Mo knows more about the 115 accusations so expects them not to be in the Premier League next season! I do expect them to be in the Premier League,” said Slot.
“The boring answer is always the same. This is not the place for me to talk about Mo’s contract. Maybe I’ve already said too much about the joke I’ve just made. So that will probably get the headlines. But it was a joke, I repeat, it was a joke.”
The remark was obviously meant in good-humour, although so too was the Kop chant about Pep Guardiola being ‘sacked in the morning’, and that met with a frosty response from the City manager and goalkeeper, Stefan Ortega. It rarely takes much to inflame tensions between the title rivals.
Mo Salah registered a goal and an assist in Liverpool's win at Anfield on Sunday - Mohamed Salah's 'last game against Man City' may be because of 115 charges, jokes Arne Slot
Salah registered a goal and an assist in Liverpool’s win at Anfield on Sunday
City are awaiting the verdict on 115 charges accusing them of breaking the Premier League profit and sustainability rules
Speaking more directly on Salah’s contribution this season, Slot said: “Is there a danger that we rely too much on him? A bit but only for the fact he can, because he is always a human being and it happened to him last season, get an injury.
“Since Federico Chiesa has had a difficult start at the club because of injuries, we don’t really have a replacement for Mo.
“The good thing is that Harvey Elliott is getting fitter and fitter again and he has played this position many times as well. I’m not afraid that Mo’s numbers will drop at all, but it when it comes to an injury for him, we are in a better position on the left wing than the right.
“But another good thing is Federico is also training with us again, he is getting back and Harvey is getting back. The best thing that can happen for us is that Mo stays fit and keeps producing these numbers.”
Salah is not hiding his desire to stay at Anfield. Paris St-Germain have distanced themselves from a move for the Egyptian as they have moved away from a ‘superstar’ policy in the aftermath of the era of Kylian Mbappé and Neymar, who failed to deliver the Champions League.
Salah is clearly not ready to move to the Saudi Pro League at this stage of his career.
Talks have stalled because of the financial commitment of retaining the 32-year-old, who is earning at least £20 million a year. There are suggestions he would sign a one-year-extension if offered, but the most relevant detail remains what kind of salary he would accept to stay beyond this season.
‘I am so happy with the squad’
Liverpool head to Newcastle United on Wednesday hoping to consolidate their nine point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Slot has not ruled out the possibility of reinforcing in January if necessary, although he says it is not currently top of the agenda.
“We are having discussions every day no matter if a window is coming up or not,” he said. “We always talk about the team, which players we like, which players are maybe not in the best place. Fortunately, we talk more about the ones that do well because most of them do really well.
Injury to Ibrahima Konate has left Liverpool thin on defensive depth
Injury to Ibrahima Konaté has left Liverpool thin on defensive depth
“It is a bit of a worry that three defenders are out but the good thing is that if the window is open, the defenders are back. I’ve said many times at the beginning of the season, I am so, so happy with the squad we have. That’s not to say if there will be a chance in the market, this club has always shown they will go for it. That’s what happened with the goalkeeper (Georgian Giorgi Mamardashvili), who isn’t even with us yet, we felt it was a chance for us to do it.
“That is what this club is known for, what people like Richard [Hughes] and Michael Edwards are known for. We are mainly focused on Newcastle then Everton and all these nine games coming up but it’s normal we have conversations about the squad, what we can change, yes or no, what can happen in the market.”
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