Liverpool manager Arne Slot has insisted that he has no regrets about the way he handled Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, stressing that the decision to leave the Reds at the end of the current season was a personal one taken entirely by the player himself.
AFPThe role of the villain
The British newspaper *The Guardian* reported that the Liverpool manager refused to disclose the reasons behind or the timing of Salah’s decision to leave the club during his first media appearance on Friday since the Egyptian international announced his departure. Slott believes the matter should be left to Salah himself to explain why he is leaving 12 months before the end of his contract.
Slott was asked whether he was viewed in some quarters as the “villain” responsible for Salah’s departure, particularly following the player’s public criticism in December after the Leeds match, to which he replied: “But that’s the general impression at the moment, isn’t it?”, referring to his image among some Liverpool fans following this season’s disappointments.
Nevertheless, Slott emphasised that he would not have handled the situation any differently with the club legend, explaining: “Yes, I’m satisfied with the way I handled it. When I look back at this season, I think I made some decisions that could have been better, but I’m not talking specifically about my handling of this matter with Salah. I don’t regret much of what I did during our year and a half together, or even a little longer.”
Slott clears his name
Slot continued: "To assume that Salah would want to leave if he didn’t play means he would have left a year and a half ago if that were the case. I remember the away game against West Ham when he wasn’t playing (under Jürgen Klopp in April 2024). I wasn’t here at the time, and Mo didn’t decide to leave."
The Dutch manager added: “To assume that if you don’t feature in these matches, you’ll suddenly decide you want to leave!… That’s just an assumption and it may or may not be true, but history has shown that he didn’t do that previously and went on to have a fantastic season after that situation.”
Read also: Slott: My wish for Salah’s Liverpool career is unrealisticWho made the decision for Salah to leave?
Salah had been left out of the starting line-up for three matches in the space of six days last December, at which point he accused the club of blaming him for Liverpool’s poor results and stated that he had no relationship with Slott; however, the manager is not convinced that this rift was what prompted the 33-year-old to bring his remarkable career at Anfield to an end.
Slott said: “The only person who can speak about that is Salah himself. You’re assuming he wants to leave because he was out for six days; I’m not sure how accurate that is. I’d be surprised if he didn’t share his thoughts on why he made this decision at some point; it’s not my place to do so, it’s up to him. And I won’t get into all these assumptions; I’ll be cautious about them.”
The Liverpool manager also denied that allowing Salah to leave on a free transfer this summer was an indication that the club was happy for him to leave, replying: “Those are your words. I think Mo fully deserved the right to decide when he felt he should leave. He has given so much to this club, and he has to make his own decision – and that is what he has done.”
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