Mohamed Salah will need to apologise to Liverpool, Arne Slot and the fans before he is reintegrated with the squad.
After a summer in which Alexander Isak refused reintegration at Newcastle United, Liverpool are now facing a situation where they may not be able to reintegrate their best player of the last decade.
It’s roughly ten years since Steven Gerrard left Anfield and Salah has been the best player the club has had since their icon left. With 250 goals in Red, he is not any old player.
Yet the same rules apply to Salah as they do to anyone else.
Salah is justified in the way he feels, but so too are the manager, players and board. His public condemnation of Slot and the club was unacceptable.
Arne Slot hints at Mo Salah apology being the only peaceful way forward
Speaking after Liverpool’s critical 1-0 win over Inter Milan, Arne Slot has suggested that Salah needs to be the one to blink first to resolve this situation.
Salah was the one who spoke out first, so it’s only right that, if he has desire to stay at Liverpool as he confesses, he needs to make the situation right by apologising.
Slot said: “Well, you say everyone makes mistakes in life but the question is should the players also recognise that as well? And should the initiative come from the player or me.”
Arne Slot on if he would like Mohamed Salah back:
"Well, you say everyone makes mistakes in life but the question is should the players also recognise that as well? And should the initiative come from the player or me.”
— Anfield Sector (@AnfieldSector) December 9, 2025
When asked about the situation, club captain Virgil van Dijk refused to be drawn into it.
He told reporters: “It’s not up to me to say who should apologize. It’s him airing his feelings. The club have to deal with it and him as well.”
Virgil Van Dijk on Mohamed Salah:
"It's not up to me to say who should apologize. It's him airing his feelings. The club have to deal with it and him as well."
— Anfield Sector (@AnfieldSector) December 9, 2025
Who blinks first? Arne Slot or Mohamed Salah?
There is now a standoff between manager Arne Slot and talisman Mohamed Salah.
The latter has put the club in a position where there is no win.
If Liverpool sell Salah, the fans will be up in arms.
If Slot caves and lets Salah back into the team without an apology, he looks weak.
As much as many would hope this goes away overnight, Liverpool will be dealing with the repercussions of this situation, one way or another, for a long time.
Both Salah and Slot are stubborn people and they both believe themselves to be in the right.
The only major difference is that Slot cannot afford to go first. Salah loses very little by apologising to the manager but stands to gain more.