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There was only one topic that was ever going to dominate Friday’s press conference ahead of the weekend clash against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Every reporter in attendance at the AXA Training Centre wanted to know one thing: will Mohamed Salah play at Anfield on Saturday? In truth, there was no answer to that burning question, and Arne Slot was more guarded with his responses than he typically is when addressing the media.
But there was plenty to glean about the situation and the chances of Salah featuring for the club again. Here’s every world Slot said on Salah during Friday’s media briefing…
What’s the situation this weekend? Will he be involved?
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning and the outcome of that conversation determines how it will look tomorrow.”
What do you need from him to resolve the situation?
“What I need is a conversation with him. I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying, but there’s not much more I can say [other] than I speak to him today. Like I said, the outcome of that conversation will determine how things look tomorrow.”
Is part of the issue asking him to do more defensively?
“You can try in multiple ways, but I just said the next time I speak about it should be with him. We have spoken a lot in the last week after the Sunderland game. I think there have been a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, our representatives and his, between him and me after the Sunderland game. I will speak to him today.”
Do you need an apology?
“Normally, I would say you have had your three questions. I think that is your fourth or fifth. The same answer again.”
Is this solely your call or are Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes involved?
“I think we have decided as a club and I was part of that decision not to take to the Inter Milan game. I am always in contact with them, but when it comes to the decision-making of the squad or the line-up, that’s on me. That’s not say I don’t talk to them, mainly Richard, not as much Michael. I talk to him about so many things. But the decision to play a player or have him in the squad, as I have experienced it until now, and I think this will never change, is entirely up to me.”
Do you want Mo to stay?
“It’s another way of asking it. The next time I talk about Mo should be with him. I have no reason to not want Mo to stay, if that is a little bit of an answer.”
Do you have a relationship with Mo?
“It’s useless asking this question because I have said so many times the same answer.”
English (US) ·