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Liverpool face Marseille in the Champions League tonight, knowing a win would lift them back into the top eight of the table. The Reds come into the match after a difficult start to 2026 in the Premier League, having yet to record a league victory this year.
Salah has returned to the squad after missing recent games due to his involvement at the Africa Cup of Nations. Arne Slot has played down last month’s public dispute between the pair, insisting the issue is now behind them.
“[The relationship is] as normal as it has always been,” Slot said. “There was only one exception and that was the game against Inter where I didn’t take him.
“But for all the games he was there, in the last game he was at Liverpool before he went to the Afcon, he came in after 15 or 20 minutes. I think he had a very good performance in that game.
“We were 1-0 up at the time and we beat Brighton with 2-0. I think he left in a situation that was good for him and for us because we beat Brighton and he played again and then he went to the Afcon.
“Again, he did what he usually does, scoring goals. Unfortunately, he couldn’t win the tournament but there were other very good teams in that tournament as well, but he got to the semi-final and now he’s back with us. Of course, I spoke to him today and I’m happy to have him back.”
Salah’s future is uncertain after last month’s interview, in which he claimed the club threw him “under the bus” and said he had no relationship with head coach Arne Slot.
Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas, is also understood to have held talks with sporting director Richard Hughes during the AFCON tournament. Saudi clubs have reportedly expressed interest in signing the Egypt international, but they would need assurance that he is willing to move before pursuing a deal.
Teams like Al Ittihad and Al Hilal have tried to sign Salah over the past two years, yet he has never shown a strong desire to leave Europe’s top level for the Saudi Pro League (SPL). The SPL has shifted its approach, now focusing on younger talent rather than established stars nearing the end of their careers.
Salah remains a target for the Saudi Pro League despite the league’s focus on younger players. Francesca Petriccione, a legal and strategic advisor to Serie A, Premier League, and LaLiga clubs with expertise in the Saudi market, says the SPL is willing to make an exception for the 33-year-old.
Asked whether Salah was a unique case for the SPL, she told Sky Sports News: “Yes, exactly. The technical contribution and the global visibility that Mohamed Salah can bring to the Saudi Pro League is unbelievable.
“But today we are in a more mature phase, and this is not about football players going to Saudi Arabia for money and then leaving. This is about careers evolving and Saudi football becoming one of the legitimate stages of that evolution.”
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