8 hours ago
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Trent Alexander-Arnold has put his backing for former Liverpool colleague Mohamed Salah on full display following the Egyptian's recent social media post.
Salah has sparked fierce discussion over the past week with an explosive interview following the Reds' stalemate with Leeds United.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot had opted to start Salah on the bench for three straight matches earlier this month, which triggered a public outburst from the Reds' No. 11 in a media interview after the goalless draw at Elland Road.
Salah suggested he had been "thrown under the bus" by the club, whilst also claiming he had "no relationship" with Slot.
That resulted in Salah being omitted from the Liverpool squad that traveled to take on Inter Milan in the Champions League last week, before the 33-year-old rejoined his teammates for the Premier League clash against Brighton at the weekend.
Salah then shared a graphic on Instagram highlighting his record as the player with the most goals and assists for a single club in Premier League history. Alexander-Arnold responded on Instagram by commenting on Salah's post with just a goat emoji, acknowledging the Liverpool star as the "greatest of all time."
Salah and Alexander-Arnold were teammates at Liverpool for eight years before the latter departed the club during the summer to join Real Madrid just before his Anfield contract ran out. Former Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson also chimed in on Salah's post, which garnered over 280,000 likes, with a crown emoji and a red heart emoji.
Saturday saw Salah make a brief appearance from the bench during Liverpool's 2-0 victory at Anfield. Salah set up Hugo Ekitike's goal and received a warm welcome from the home crowd in his final match before jetting off to compete in the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt.
Slot shed some light on his decision to bring Salah back into the Liverpool squad for the Brighton win, but remained tight-lipped about their conversation in the days leading up to the match. "No, for me there is no issue to resolve," Slot stated. "For me, he is the same as any other player.
"You talk to your players if you are happy or unhappy with things but there is nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds after the game.
"The reason he wasn't in Milan was his interview. Everybody has a different opinion about that, should he be once, twice, three times, four times, four months, 12 years.
"Every manager makes different decisions about that. He wasn't involved in the game against Milan and I spoke to him yesterday. As I usually never say anything about what we talk about, I am not going to make an exception now.
"What has been said between the two of us in that conversation stays between us. What you see is what you get to know. He was in the squad and my first substitution.
"And all the other things have been said in that conversation, I never speak about. When I speak to Virgil or Mo or any other player, I never tell you guys what we talk about.
"But actions speak louder than what has been said. He was in the squad again and when I had to make my first substitution, I brought him in and he performed as every fan wanted him to, including me, would like him to perform today."
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