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Curtis Jones has shed light on what Mohamed Salah told the Liverpool squad after voicing his discontent with head coach Arne Slot and the club following last weekend's 3-3 draw at Leeds United. Salah expressed that his relationship with the head coach had deteriorated and felt he had been 'thrown under the bus' after being left out of the starting line-up for three consecutive matches.
Following his remarks, Salah was excluded from the Liverpool squad that travelled for the midweek victory over Inter Milan. With suggestions that yesterday's match against Brighton and Hove Albion could be his final appearance for the club, his future at Anfield remained uncertain.
Despite facing criticism for airing his grievances publicly and the timing of his comments, Salah was brought back into the fold for the clash with the Seagulls after fruitful discussions with Slot on Friday.
Although he began the match on the bench, Salah was called upon in the first half to replace the injured Joe Gomez and made a significant impact, assisting Hugo Ekitike's second goal of the game, helping the Reds secure a 2-0 victory.
Liverpool will now have to make do without Salah for several weeks. The 33 year old is due to join Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations, which means the speculation surrounding his future will persist in the run-up to the January transfer window.
But speaking after the 2-0 home victory against Brighton, Jones downplayed Salah's remarks as he disclosed that the forward had clarified his words weren't directed at the squad or any specific teammates.
"We all love Mo. I love Mo," Jones told Viaplay. "At my hardest times at the club, you know, he was always one of the ones who was there. I could always speak to (him). And it's exactly the same now.
"Mo's his own man, he's got his own opinions. And, you know, I don't think his intentions were to affect the team or anything like that. It was just a personal thing. And as everybody knows, the team, the fans, the staff, we all love Mo. He's a great guy.
"I don't really like to speak on another man's issues or his business and stuff - that has to do with Mo. But at the end of the day, I think the important thing that Mo made clear was that it's not against the team or anything like that, just a personal issue, and that's it."
Jones reached his 200th appearance for Liverpool against Brighton, becoming the youngest Reds player to achieve this milestone since Steven Gerrard in 2003.
Having been coached by the Liverpool legend at Under-18s and Under-19s level, Jones was eager to honour Gerrard as he explained how some tough treatment from his former manager had guided him towards the correct path during his academy years. "Not a bad person to follow, is it? Steven has obviously been a huge part of my career and life," Jones shared with LFC TV.
"And I say life because he was probably the first man to really have a pop at me at the academy! And that changed me to think I'm not better than anybody else or anything like that. It was a reality check in terms of how I played and the role that he gave me.
"Steven would be the first to say that once I overcame a thing where I'd complicate things and I thought I was the man because I had the 10 on my back and all things like that, that I'd be the first man that he'd pick on his team.
"I'd always been a kid who was top of the age group and all things like that. At times you can become a little bit passive, I'd say.
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"And Steven was the first one to give me a real, real check. Coming from a man like him, a man who has played the game, a man who I idolised, I've got to change if it's him who is telling me.
"From there, he stuck with me and I stuck with him and we worked. A year after I'm around the first team and now I'm stood here on 200 games so he's obviously a man who I would like to thank.
"It's mad. I actually had a chat with Trey [Nyoni] and Rio [Ngumoha] was there as well.
"I just said, 'Boys, I know you will hear it all the time from staff and family around you, about how fast it goes. But my God, it goes so fast'. If I think about my first game, Wolves away, and how fast the whole thing has changed.
"I can only thank the staff around me and the team-mates around me who have always got the belief in me to keep me at the club and when I play, to trust that I can play in that many games.
"I can only thank my mum and the family around me, who have obviously played a huge part... the times when it was taxis into training and things like that.
"And the environment I was obviously around as a kid, a Scouse kid, it's quite easy to take another route. But I only had one goal in my mind: that was to play at this club.
"And that's what I'm doing so I've got a massive smile on my face. It's 200 down - and hopefully there's many, many more to come."
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