Defender ‘heading’ to Liverpool after ‘agreed terms’ as Arne Slot accused of making Mo Salah ‘mistake’ | OneFootball

Liverpool are on the verge of sealing the deal for Celtic defender Dara Jikiemi, while a talkSPORT pundit has outlined the “mistake” that manager Arne Slot made with Mohamed Salah before his extraordinary outburst after the match against Leeds United last weekend.

The Reds’ quest to sign a new centre-back in 2026 has been well-documented. With Ibrahima Konate out of contract at the end of the season and Virgil van Dijk not getting any younger, Liverpool manager Slot and sporting director Richard Hughes are aware of the need to strengthen the backline.

Marc Guehi is Liverpool’s top centre-back target, with the England international central defender out of contract at Crystal Palace at the end of the season.

Liverpool set to sign Dara Jikiemi from Celtic

While Liverpool acknowledge the need to strengthen the first team, the Merseyside club are also on the lookout for promising teenagers that they can mould into future stars.

Liverpool signed 18-year-old Italian centre-back Giovanni Leoni from Parma in August 2025, and just months later, the defending Premier League champions are on the verge of snapping up another talented teenage defender – Dara Jakiemi from Celtic.

The Secret Scout reported on X on December 6: “EXCL – Liverpool have agreed terms with 15-Year-Old Dara Jakiemi from Celtic.

“The young centre-back who has played for Scotland wasn’t included in games this week against Spain as prepares his move to Liverpool.”

The Daily Mail has brought an update on the situation, with journalist Lewis Steele reporting that the defender is “heading” to Liverpool.

Steele wrote in The Daily Mail: “Liverpool are closing in on the signing of 15-year-old Celtic wonderkid Dara Jikiemi and are poised to beat Nottingham Forest to the punch.

“Online account Secret Scout first revealed Liverpool’s interest in the defender and Confidential understands everything is heading in the right direction.”

Arne Slot decision on Mohamed Salah

TEAMtalk understands that Liverpool manager Slot has decided to include Mohamed Salah in the squad for the Premier League game against Brighton and Hove Albion this weekend.

Mo Salah did not feature for Liverpool in their Champions League game against Inter Milan in Italy in midweek.

The Egyptian winger was left out of the squad after he spoke out against Slot and Liverpool after not coming off the bench against Leeds United last weekend.

Sources have told our transfer correspondent, Graeme Bailey, that Slot spoke with the Liverpool hierarchy and senior squad members before making the decision to bring Salah back into the fold for the match against Brighton at Anfield on Saturday.

Arne Slot ‘mistake’ with Mo Salah

Former Crystal Palace and Leeds United manager Neil Warnock has criticised Slot and believes that the Liverpool boss should have spoken with Salah before deciding to leave him on the bench for the match against Leeds.

Salah did not start against West Ham United and Sunderland either.

Warnock told talkSPORT: “I think the manager made a mistake in the first place and should have sussed this out.

“Salah was on the bench for a couple of games before last week. It must have been bubbling.

“You don’t keep a lad like Salah, who won them everything last year, on the bench without telling him why.

“If you want him, you don’t put him out to pasture, then the agent, I’m sure the agent then, will have got on board: ‘Mo, he’s not played you for two games, you’re not playing, blah blah blah, you’ve got to go to the press’.

“He doesn’t (usually) go to the press, but all of a sudden he does that a week before he goes to Egypt. It’s too much for me, this.

“I feel sorry for Mo because what he did for Liverpool last year was unbelievable, and he’s going to taint it all now.

“They’re going to say he’s finishing on a low, he’s done this, that and the other. It’s his fault, but three games… they should have both got together.

“He should have stopped it straight away before it got to the agent. I’m sure the agent has got into Mo about: ‘You should be doing this, you should be doing that’.

“He should have stopped that from happening, but it doesn’t sound like he’s had a chat with him for the two games he’s left him out.

“I think because he didn’t go in and speak to two games and left him rotting, it’s obvious they have not spoken, it’s driven it on.

“Almost Liverpool (have thought): ‘Is it time to get some money for him, is it time to get a good transfer fee now? Everybody will blame Mo, we’ll come out of it smelling of roses’.

“I think the manager is wrong for not talking to him a lot more if he wants him.

“You look at the players who have left. When you play in a wide position like him, you do rely on a lot of other players to give you the ball in the right areas.

“They haven’t had the ball in the right areas. He’s never done it (the defensive work) in his career.

“I still think he could have sorted it out better than what he’s done.”

Liverpool confident of winning Marc Guehi race

Sources have told our transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, that Liverpool are confident that Marc Guehi will pick them over Bayern Munich.

We understand that Bayern are making an aggressive push to convince Guehi to move to the Allianz Arena.

The defender is out of contract at Palace at the end of the season and does not plan on signing a new deal.

However, sources close to Guehi have told us that Anfield is still the defender’s preferred destination.