Liverpool left Mohamed Salah at home and traveled to Milan to face Inter at the San Siro, but his future remains up in the air as he prepares to join the Egyptian national team.
Former Dutch international and AC Milan player Marco van Basten has questioned Liverpool star Mohamed Salah’s recent comments. Salah continued to be absent from the first team on Tuesday night after claiming he was crushed under a bus at Anfield.
Salah has played just 45 minutes in Liverpool’s last three league games, being introduced in the second half by Arne Slott against Sunderland but left on the bench against West Ham and Leeds. The forward was completely absent on Tuesday and did not travel to Italy as Slott’s side earned a late win away to Inter Milan.
Van Basten, translated by Sport Witness, accused Salah of having a “beetle brain”. He also questioned the forward’s form this season, adding: “He’s been doing very well, but the last few months have simply been poor.”
Pundit Theo Jansen, who played for the Netherlands national team under Van Basten, criticized Salah in his own way. “He’s giving everything, it’s very simple. What has he shown this season?” Jansen asked.
“He extended his contract and the club paid him a huge salary. He just had a bad season and then the manager has to make a decision. I think Slott waited a long time to let him go because he has a great track record. This interview is terrible. I’m bigger than the club and it’s all about me and the club doesn’t need me.”
read more: Jamie Carragher makes a U-turn on Mohamed Salah with personal apology on live TVread more: Liverpool receive new penalty following Inter Milan manager’s ‘fraud’ claims
Liverpool have one Premier League game left before the deadline for players to link up with their national teams for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations. Regardless of whether Salah plays against Brighton, speculation about him is expected during his absence on assignment to Egypt.
Reds manager Arne Slott was reluctant to talk about Salah after the win in Milan, opting instead to praise his team’s hard-won victory, but expected more questions to come later in the week. “I would totally understand if you went to the press conference on Friday and all the questions were about Mo, but I think these players deserve to be talked about tonight,” he said.
After the match, Salah’s teammate Virgil van Dijk was asked if the former Roma star needed to apologize for his comments. “Apology? If someone has to apologize, I don’t think I need to talk about it,” the captain said.
“It was him who expressed his emotions and that’s something the club has to deal with and so am I. Nothing has changed. We have a responsibility. So the focus was there. Nothing has changed and by the way he was training as well.”
“The reality is that Mo is also going to Africa at the weekend. I’ve known Mo for a long time and we’ve been through a lot of good and bad times. We play a big part in this at LFC, so we talk, but things like that naturally stay indoors. And we push ourselves as a team of players, against the outside noise and encourage our players to listen.”
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