Liverpool prepare for crucial second wave of talks on Mo Salah future as big claim is made over Arne Slot | OneFootball

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Liverpool have been told that the ongoing row over Mohamed Salah would simply not have reared its head had Jurgen Klopp still been Reds boss, while new claims over the Egyptian’s future suggest critical talks could yet lead to his exit at Anfield.

Salah departed for the African Cup of Nations earlier this month with his Liverpool future still in some doubt. An emotional farewell to the Anfield crowd after his last outing for the club before heading to Morocco was indicative of a man bidding his farewells.

Having previously called out Slot for leaving him on the bench over a three-game spell and accusing the club of ‘throwing him under the bus’, speculation that Salah could move on in January reached fever pitch amid fresh links to the Saudi Pro League.

And while sources have made it clear that the Reds have no plans to offload the third-highest scorer in their history during the winter window, there is a growing sense that a parting of ways could be on the cards come the end of the season.

Now, former Reds striker Emile Heskey has argued that, had Klopp still been in charge of the Reds, the fall-out with Salah simply would not have reared its head, arguing that the German’s superior man-management skills would have stamped out the fire before it had begun…

“Jurgen is more of a communicator with the players and keeps them focused. [He] lets them understand the highs and lows,” Heskey told the Liverpool Echo about Klopp’s unique managerial style.

“It’s all about communication. For me, Salah isn’t a kid; he’s not a Rio Ngumoha or a Trey Nyoni, so I think he deserves an explanation on certain things.”

In defence of Slot’s right as the club’s head coach to pick the side he deems best, Heskey added: “I don’t think the manager has done anything wrong in the sense of it’s up to him whether he wants to play Mo Salah or bench him. It’s his job that’s on the line.

“But in saying that, [Salah] does need more of an explanation because of what he’s done and who he is.”

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Critical talks in the works for Salah

According to the Daily Mail’s chief Liverpool correspondent, Lewis Steele, the Reds’ sporting director Richard Hughes will hold further talks with the player’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, in the coming days to determine the player’s future.

When they met last week, Abbas made it clear that Salah does not want to face another prolonged spell on the bench following his AFCON commitments – a fact made clear to our transfer correspondent, Graeme Bailey, when he looked into matters around Salah recently.

However, should he not be given the necessary guarantees, his agent could push Liverpool into accepting his exit and with a potential move to Saudi Arabia still at the forefront of the player’s mind.

With Salah away in Morocco and giving AFCON his undivided attention, Steele says that Hughes is expected to hold further and critical talks with Abbas in due course, meaning his short and medium-term future will likely be determined without the player actually being present.

Despite that, FSG’s stance is clear: Salah will remain at Anfield next month, and the club are not willing to discuss his exit at this moment in time. Those talks will, however, determine if the stance could alter come the season’s end, and with Slot’s intentions for the player over the remainder of the season likely to play a critical role in the player’s own decision.

Either way, Heskey is adamant that Slot should perhaps be excused of some of the blame in the incident, suggesting his role as head coach meant he is perhaps not as involved in player well-being as predecessor Klopp was.

“He’s the leader, he has to,” Heskey added. “There are two points to this, he’s a head coach. It [the Salah row] doesn’t fall under his remit. When I was playing, it was managers. I would say Jurgen was a manager. Now, Arne looks like more of a coach, but because you’re the leader of the pack, you probably do need to be the first one who approaches to nip everything in the bud.

“It’s one of the most difficult jobs being a manager – fire-fighting everything. ‘Is that player okay, is the family okay?’ Making sure everything is okay, and this is where Jurgen was fantastic. Arne probably needs to have a little bit of an understanding of that role and the importance of it.”

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