Arne Slot breaks the silence as relationship with Mohamed Salah collapses

After the draw against Leeds in the Premier League, Liverpool only had two days to prepare before travelling to Milan to face Inter tonight. As usual, Slot appeared alongside goalkeeper Alisson Becker to answer questions from the media. The spotlight was firmly on the Dutch coach as he spoke about his recent conversation with Salah, who claimed their relationship had “broken down”.

When asked whether he felt Salah was attacking him, Slot said: “The only one who can answer that is Mo himself. I can guess but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do in this moment in time. It’s hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest”. “We have let him know that he isn’t travelling with us. That’s the only communication from us to him. Before Saturday the two of us have spoken a lot – sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.” - he added.

Slot also praised Salah, saying the forward had always been respectful toward staff and teammates, and admitted he was surprised by what happened on Saturday. His reaction was “very clear”, Slot said, which explains why Salah is not travelling with the team for the Inter match. Regarding the next game against Brighton, Slot said no decision had been made and everything would depend on what happens tonight in Milan.

Addressing why Salah has not been playing much, Slot explained that he made tactical changes to find what best suited the team. He said: “We have struggled more and more this season with the game plans teams use against us. I’m not just talking about the long balls that teams often play. I’ve tried many solutions - that’s my job. We looked very vulnerable against Nottingham Forest and PSV, so I decided to play another midfielder against West Ham, which we won. I brought him on at half-time against Sunderland and then decided to play a bit of a diamond against Leeds. I could have played Mo off the right instead of Hugo (Ekitike).”

About Salah saying he'd been ‘thrown under the bus, Slot said: “Usually I’m calm, I’m polite. But that doesn’t mean I’m weak so if a player has these comments about so many things then it’s up to me and the club to react. We reacted in a way you can see – he’s not here.”

Tonight, Liverpool will face Inter Milan at the Giuseppe Meazza at 3am (GMT+7). Inter enter the match in strong form, having won their last three games, scoring 11 goals and conceding just once. In the Champions League, Cristian Chivu’s side have only lost to Atlético Madrid, with José Giménez scoring a late winner. Liverpool, meanwhile, after beating Frankfurt (5–1) and Real Madrid (1–0), were stunned by a 1-4 defeat to PSV and now sit 13th in the group with nine points.