‘I have no clue’ - Arne Slot admits he doesn’t know if Mohamed Salah has played his last game for Liverpool after shock outburst

Less than an hour after Liverpool's thrilling draw with Leeds on Saturday, the Egypt international was taking swipes at the club and manager Slot. The former Chelsea man claimed he had earned his right in the starting XI after being on the bench more often than not of late, and that someone at the Merseyside outfit wanted him to "get all of the blame".

He told journalists: "I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame. I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we don't have any relationship. I don't know why but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn't want me in the club. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame. This club, I will always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I always will. It [the situation] is not acceptable to me, to be fair. I don't get it. It's like I'm being thrown more under the bus. I don't think I'm the problem. I have done so much for this club. I don't have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone but I earned my position. It's football. It is what it is."

In response, Liverpool decided against Salah being part of their squad for their Champions League game against Inter Milan on Tuesday. And on Monday evening, manager Slot said he doesn't think his authority is under threat off the back of the Egyptian's remarks. 

He told reporters: "I don't feel that my authority has been undermined. It's not the way I feel it. It's not about me, if my life is difficult, yes or no, that's not very important in a situation like this. It's if it is more difficult for the team and for the club. No one likes us to be in the situation we're in at the moment. First of all, it's difficult to see staff members who work so hard are affected by the situation we're in now. Mainly because of the results. I'm the manager, I have to pick a team so to a certain extent I'm important, but my focus is on the team and not on me."

In the wake of this drama, speculation has mounted that Liverpool and Salah will part company soon. However, the former Feyenoord manager didn't go that far. 

When asked if the ex-Roma ace has played his last game for Liverpool, he replied: "I have no clue. I cannot answer that question at this moment in time."

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Salah, who trained with the first team on Monday, said he no longer had a good relationship with Slot after being an unused substitute in two of Liverpool's last three league games. But it seems the Dutchman still has hope that relations can improve between the two. 

"We let him know that he's not travelling with us so that was the only communication that there has been from us to him," he said. "Of course, before Saturday, the two of us have spoken a lot. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. That's not the way I feel [that relationship has broken down] but he has the right to feel how he feels things. I haven't felt that at all - until Saturday evening, for sure. When I didn't play him, usually players don't like the manager that much but he was very respectful to my staff, to his teammates and he trained really hard. So, to an extent, it was a surprise to me when I heard after the game that he gave the comments that he gave. Like I said, it's not the first time and won't be the last time that when a player doesn't play, that he says something similar to what he did. My reaction to that is also clear. He isn't here tonight."

Salah will head to the Africa Cup of Nations next week, with the Premier League clash against Brighton this weekend set to be his last game before flying out to Morocco. When asked if he understood why the veteran said he had been thrown under the bus, Slot opted against wading into those murkier waters.

"I would need to know what he means by it and why he says this, who he is referring to," he said. "I have not had that conversation, no, not with those words. Usually I'm calm and polite but that doesn't mean I'm weak. If a player has these comments about so many things then it is up to me, us, as a club, to react and you can see now that he's not here."