Arne Slot insists he has “no clue” whether Mohamed Salah will play for Liverpool again.
The Egyptian attacker was omitted from the squad for their Champions League trip to Inter after throwing his future into doubt with his incendiary comments following Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds United.
Slot believes strong action was required after Salah responded to being left out of the starting line up for a third successive game by accusing Liverpool of “throwing him under the bus” and making him a scapegoat for the team’s struggles this season.
Asked if he thought Salah had played his last game for the club, Slot told a pre-match press conference on Monday: “I have no clue. I cannot answer that question at this point in time.
“I am a firm believer that there is always a possibility to return for a player. I can leave it with that I think.
“We are sitting here on an evening before a big game for us. There is only 36 hours between now and the moment we conceded to make it 3-3 at Leeds.
“You can understand that I’ve tried to prepare my team in the best possible way. In the meantime we decided not to bring Mo with us to this game and then after tomorrow we will look at the situation again.”
Salah won the Premier League with Liverpool last season (Michael Regan/Getty Images/Getty Images For The Premier League)
Slot was shocked by Salah’s claims that his relationship with the head coach had completely broken down.
“That is not the way I feel, but he has the right to feel how he feels,” he said. “I haven’t felt that at all until Saturday evening for sure.
“When I didn’t play him anymore, usually players don’t like the manager then that much, but he was really respectful to his teammates and my staff members.
“He trained really hard so it was a surprise to me when I heard the comments he gave after the game. But it is not the first or the last time when a player doesn’t play that he says something like that. My reaction to that is clear — he is not here tonight.”
Salah trained at Kirkby with the squad on Monday before being informed he wouldn’t be travelling to Italy.
Slot described it as a “short” conversation. He added: “That was the only communication from us to him. Before Saturday the two of us have spoken a lot, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.”
Asked if he thought Salah was referring to him when he talked about being “thrown under the bus”, Slot replied: “The only one who can answer that is Mo himself.
“I can guess but I don’t think that is the right thing to do. It’s hard for me to tell who he means. He has every right to feel what he feels. He has the right to share it with the media but it’s then up to us to react to it.
“Usually I’m calm and I’m polite but that doesn’t mean I am weak. So if a player has these commands about so many things, then it’s about me and us as a club to react. We reacted in a way you can see — he’s not here.”
He continued: “I don’t feel that my authority has been undermined. That’s not the way I feel it.”
Slot’s side go into Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter with just four wins from their last 15 games in all competitions.
With Salah missing, Liverpool’s attacking options are limited as Federico Chiesa (illness) and Cody Gakpo (injury) also didn’t travel to Italy.
Slot’s 19-man squad includes three goalkeepers and three teenage outfield players with Wataru Endo and Jeremie Frimpong also sidelined.
“Federico is ill so that is poor timing you could say,” Slot said. “We are monitoring his situation. If he has an amazing recovery he might travel tomorrow. But that’s not what I expect.
“Cody unfortunately picked up an injury in the last game and he will be out for a few weeks.”
