Micah Richards gives Arne Slot instruction over best Liverpool XI ahead of Mohamed Salah return

Mohamed Salah will be returning to Liverpool with his future still up in the air, although Arne Slot has been told what he immediately needs to do with the Egyptian

Micah Richards insists that Mohamed Salah has to start upon his Liverpool return(Image: The Rest Is Football)

Micah Richards has told Arne Slot he has to throw Mohamed Salah back into his starting line-up upon his return to Liverpool.

Salah will be back with the Reds this week following the conclusion of the Africa Cup of Nations, with the winger’s tournament having ended in heartbreak after defeat in the semi-finals and third-place play-off before Sadio Mane’s Senegal was crowned the champion in a controversial final.

There are plenty of questions surrounding Salah’s return to Merseyside, not least whether he still has a future at the club beyond the January transfer window following his extraordinary outburst last month.

The 33-year-old accused Liverpool of throwing him “under the bus” after he was named on the bench for three consecutive games, while he also claimed his relationship with Slot had broken down.

Having been completely dropped for the subsequent trip to Inter Milan, Salah earned his place back in the squad against Brighton before heading off to AFCON, although he did suggest the game against the Seagulls could have been his final appearance for the Reds.

We might well see whether that is the case this week, with Salah due to report back to Liverpool ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Marseille. No word has yet been given as to whether the winger will return to the squad for that game, but former Manchester City defender Richards is adamant that he should be back in the starting XI.

Mohamed Salah is due to return to Liverpool this week following AFCON(Image: Getty Images)

Speaking on The Rest Is Football following Liverpool’s weekend draw with Burnley, Richards said: “Salah’s got to start.

“I know he’s played [Jeremie] Frimpong wide right, but Salah’s got to start. He’ll come back hungry and he did really well at AFCON as well.

“Maybe [Florian] Wirtz off the left but coming in, [Hugo] Ekitike’s going to play and they have to play Salah. I think they’ve actually missed him at times.

“Wirtz high left, probably with form they’ll play him more than [Cody] Gakpo. [Dominik] Szoboszlai, [Ryan] Gravenberch and [Alexis] Mac Allister in midfield, that’s probably what they’ll go. I think so anyway.”

Whether Salah does feature against Marseille will likely come down to his conversations with Slot, with the Liverpool boss having confirmed he has been in talks with the winger ahead of his return.

"I'm happy that he comes back because Mo has been so important for this club,” Slot said last week.

"Even if I had 15 attackers, I still would have been happy if he came back, but that's not our current situation.

"I'm happy to have him back after an important game he has to play for Egypt."