Goodbye Salah? Slot answers burning Liverpool exit question with cryptic nine-word reply | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has done his best to dispel speculation that Mohamed Salah has played his final game for the Reds following the 2-0 win over Brighton at Anfield, while comments from Ibrahima Konate and Hugo Ekitike have offered further hints on the future of the Egyptian superstar.

A turbulent week at Anfield ended in the best possible manner as Salah returned to the Reds side – entering the field as a 26th-minute substitute – to help play a leading role in their much-needed Anfield win. But while Slot eased the pressure on his head with the victory, and while Ekitike continued his red-hot goalscoring streak in the match with a deadly double, all the cameras were trained on the 33-year-old Egyptian at the full-time whistle.

To any observers, Salah’s lap of honour and applause for all sections of the ground as they serenaded him looked, in every aspect, like not just a farewell ahead of his departure for the African Cup of Nations, but actually a permanent goodbye. With the hint of a tear in his eye, some will be wondering if they were goodbye tears or simply the emotion almost coming to the surface after a hugely difficult week at Liverpool FC.

In the wake of that, Slot has done his best to play down claims that Salah was playing his last ever game for the club, with a cryptic nine-word response to a question about whether the manager would like him to stay.

“I think you already know the answer to that,” Slot told Sky Sports.

In another interview and in a reply to questions about whether Salah will return to Liverpool after AFCON, Slot simply stated: “Yes!”

Expanding on his first answer, Slot continued: “What has been said between the two of us in that conversation stays between us. What you see is what you get to know, that he was in the squad and my first substitution.

“All the other things that have been said in that conversation, I never speak about when I speak to Virgil [van Dijk] or Mo [Salah] or any other player. I never tell you guys what we talk about.”

Slot then added: “Yeah. He’s a Liverpool player, and the moment he’s [here], I like to use him when we need him.

“Today he didn’t start as he did a few times before, but in the one and a half seasons before he started every game. Today, when he came in, he had a performance like you would want him to give.

“He was close to another assist – I think he was shocked to see Virgil next to him in that long sprint. He was close to scoring, but he was a threat, and that’s very important. When you play with attackers, you are hoping he is a threat to the other team.”

Slot continued: “He wasn’t the only player who walked around the pitch thanking the fans because the fans deserved a thank you from us.

“Our players worked incredibly hard to keep a clean sheet and for the first time in weeks, maybe months, we had a little bit of luck.

“Mo is going to go to the AFCON now. I hope he is going to do very well, and in the meantime, we have to play here without him with not that many players available.”

After the game, Reds defender Ibrahima Konate spoke with the French media about Salah’s future and had this to say in reply to a question on whether that was the Egyptian’s final game for the club.

“Personally, no, I don’t think so. Today you saw how much he loves this club,” Konate said.

“What happened with him – you have to understand the frustration sometimes felt by players who have such a career, who have done so much.

“He is a player that everyone loves, the coach loves, he loves the coach, everyone loves each other at this club.”

Ekitike also deflected attention that Salah could depart Anfield in January, stating: “Mohamed is a great, great professional.

“I look to him as an example. You can see how much he is involved in goals and assists. He is a legend here. To share the pitch is a blessing. That’s the kind of player who makes us like to watch football.”

On the assist Salah gave him that helped the Egyptian set the Premier League record for most combined goals and assists (277) with a single club, Ekitike added: “He gave me a great ball, I just had to be in a good place. It was easy to finish.

“I was looking for the hat-trick, but it is going to be another time. It was good, two goals. We try to stick together and work together.”

Latest Liverpool news: Dream Salah replacement wants Anfield; Konate heir eyed

Despite the apparent calming of the storms at Anfield between Slot and Salah, our sources have made it clear that the Egyptian is very much open to leaving Anfield in January and would welcome a mutual termination of the £400,000 a week deal he signed in April.

On that subject, the Reds have renewed belief that a dream replacement is open to moving to Merseyside next month.

Meanwhile, Liverpool reportedly have a quality Ligue 1 defender on their wishlist as a potential replacement for Konate, with another source revealing the shock transfer fee that Richard Hughes is looking for the France international defender should he leave in January.

Finally, a Liverpool FC journalist has revealed the real reason why Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is refusing to play Harvey Elliott, with the winger having joined the Villans on a loan deal from the Reds in the summer of 2025.