Talks between Salah and Liverpool yield one conclusion – there’s an unsolvable issue | OneFootball

Early discussions held between Liverpool and the representatives of Mohamed Salah have yielded one critical issue there is no simple solution for.

Liverpool have held initial talks with Mo Salah’s camp as the club do not want his situation to dominate the headlines for the whole of January.

Salah has linked up with Egypt for the AFCON, which gave everyone around the saga some respite.

The 33-year-old publicly announced his unhappiness at being dropped by Arne Slot and because of his outburst, was left out of their squad to face Inter Milan.

Following talks with Slot he was brought back onto the bench for their clash with Brighton, but few things were resolved.

We previously revealed that during his talks with Slot, Salah again made it clear that he has no intention of becoming a squad player.

We are told that Salah’s camp have already held talks with sporting director Richard Hughes, during which their position was set out and not much has changed from Salah’s initial statement.

The fact Salah is refusing to accept even a partially diminished role poses a big problem for all involved. Liverpool have looked more solid defensively during his brief absence, and his attacking returns this year (five goals, four assists) do not lend themselves to having an undroppable status.

In any case, sources have also confirmed that Liverpool are determined not to let Salah’s future and talk around it dominate the headlines as we move into the new year.

There has been talk over a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that was part of Salah’s new deal he signed last summer that would see him allowed to leave after 12 months, but TEAMtalk understands that has been laughed off by both Liverpool and Salah’s camp and referred to us as ‘nonsense’.

Hughes will continue talks with Salah’s lead agent Ramy Abbas Issa. Hughes has the complete trust of FSG and their chief Michael Edwards and if that means moving the Egyptian on, then the club are open to his departure if that is the best thing for Liverpool FC.

Liverpool are very much looking to add to their squad, with Antoine Semenyo – a player Hughes knows well – very much in their thinking. But it has to be pointed out they wanted the Bournemouth ace before the issues with Salah emerged.

In other news, our insider, Fraser Fletcher, has been told Tottenham are ready to shatter their wage structure in order to beat then likes of Liverpool to Semenyo.

The winger can be signed for £65m via a release clause active in the early part of the winter window. Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United are all prepared to trigger it.

Elsewhere, Kostas Tsimikas could see his loan spell with Roma cut short and return to Anfield in January.