Liverpool captain held talks with Salah after the Egyptian fell out with Arne Slott before reconciling ahead of his substitute appearance against Brighton
This time, Mohamed Salah had no intention of stopping in the area where players sometimes chat with the media after a match. “Two weeks in a row? No,” Salah laughed.
fair enough. But as he merrily passed by, the captain spoke as usual, wondering aloud if one of the club’s greatest ever players would ever stop in the mixed zone again in a Liverpool shirt.
Arne Slott said normal relations had been restored and pointed out that other players circled Anfield to thank supporters after Hugo Ekitike’s first and second half goals gave Liverpool victory over Brighton in a very wasteful game. However, no other player had tears in their eyes.
read more: Jamie Carragher gives verdict on Mohamed Salah, aims for Rio Ferdinand’s World Cup jabread more: Hugo Ekitike scores twice, Liverpool beat Brighton, Mo Salah returns – 5 talking points
No other player was so dramatic. No player lasted longer than Salah. And if you expected Virgil van Dijk to forcefully dispel any notion that Salah might play his last game for Liverpool, you were wrong.
Salah is currently on duty with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations. His club captain said: “We wish him the best of luck and…hopefully he’ll be back.”
Clearly, these three words indicate that Van Dijk is not entirely sure. He certainly wants to be alongside Salah again, but he knows that is not a given.
Van Dijk continued: “I can’t control that. He’s one of the leaders. He’s one of the leaders so I want to have him around.”
“Mo will be playing in the African Cup of Nations. We hope he will be successful there and everyone wants him to come back and be important for us for the rest of the season.”
“But on the other hand, we all know football, but you never know what’s going to happen. He’s one of my leaders, he’s a very important player who also showed assists, so I hope he stays. He’s still important to the football club, but there are other parties involved in this situation.”
“Of course, I told him I wanted him to stay. I’m not going to tell you the rest. We’ll be in touch over the next few days and weeks. We always do. And then we’ll see.”
Any thoughts that some fans might voice their displeasure over Salah’s infamous interview at Elland Road were proven wrong the moment he appeared on the pitch in the 26th minute, replacing the injured Joe Gomez. But while Salah clearly has fan support, Van Dijk believes Slott has handled the situation “perfectly”.
“I think he (the coach) handled the situation very well, calmly and in his own way. It’s a very tricky situation,” the captain explained.
“But looking at it, and from the conversations we had on a daily basis, I think he handled it very well. When difficult moments happen, we have to come together.”
“This is a very good moment to see how everyone reacts. And the manager has done a perfect job so far.”
And Van Dijk believes the wins over Inter Milan and Brighton (both clean sheets) show that Salah’s legend has not affected his team-mates. “I talk to almost all the players,” the Dutchman said.
“It’s a different story if you feel there are issues within the team that could affect performance. But I think this week we’ve shown that we’re completely united and we’re going to move forward as one.” But whether that includes Salah remains to be seen.
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