A crucial conversation between Mohamed Salah and the Liverpool coach

The final decision on whether or not Egyptian international star Mohamed Salah will return to Liverpool’s roster will be in the hands of Arne Slot, the Red Team’s technical director, but that will depend on the outcome of his next conversation with the player.
Slot decided to exclude Salah from Liverpool’s match against its Italian host Inter Milan, last Tuesday, in the Champions League, following his fiery statements last Saturday, in which he said that his relationship with the Dutch coach had collapsed, indicating that he felt like a “scapegoat” for the bad start of the season.
The Pharaohs’ captain also hinted that Liverpool’s match with its guest, Brighton, tomorrow, in the 16th round of the English Premier League, may witness his final appearance at Anfield, the stronghold of the ancient team.
The decision to exclude Salah came after talks between Sloat, Richard Hughes, Liverpool’s sporting director, and other members of the club’s management, and in light of the continuing consultations between all parties, the final decision will be in the hands of the Dutch coach.
Slot said in the press conference, which he held today, that “he has no reasons for not wanting Salah to stay,” but he hinted at the need for some kind of reconciliation on the part of the player in order for him to return to the squad in what will be his last match before heading to the African Cup of Nations with his country, next Monday.
Slott, who declined to go into details about the matter, added: “I will have a conversation with Mohamed Salah, and the outcome of this conversation will determine the shape of things in the Brighton match.”
He continued: “We talked a lot last week after the Sunderland match. There were many discussions between his representatives and our representatives, and between him and me, and I will talk to him again today.”
Sloat pointed out: “I think we decided as a club – and I was part of this decision – not to use him against Inter. I am in constant contact with them, but when it comes to choosing the lineup or team, they always leave me the freedom to decide.”
He continued: “This does not mean that I do not talk to them, especially with Richard (Edwards, CEO of the Fenway Sports Group that owns the team), but I talk to him about many things, but the decision to field a player or include him in the team is entirely up to me as you have seen so far, and I believe that this matter will not change.”
In the absence of Salah, Liverpool (struggling) achieved a valuable 1-0 victory over Inter Milan, achieving two wins and two draws in its last four matches, all of them in the absence of Salah from the starting lineup.
The Inter match witnessed Slot adopting a new offensive plan, as he included Swedish strikers Alexander Isak and Frenchman Hugo Ekitiki, who are worth 200 million pounds ($268 million), in the team’s main roster, for only the second time.
Although the team’s performance was not impressive, Slott hopes to give them more opportunities, as he noted, “The more they play together, the more their harmony and cooperation become. I saw promising signs in them. This is only the second time they have played together. We will see them playing together more in the future.”
Sloat concluded his statements, which were reported by the British news agency (BA Media), by saying: “The other striker, Federico Chiesa, has recovered from the illness and will rejoin the team.”
It is noteworthy that Liverpool is currently in tenth place in the English Premier League standings with 23 points, 10 points behind Arsenal (the leaders), while Brighton is in eighth place, on goal difference, ahead of the Slot team, which is equal to them in the same score.