Arne Slot has no 'regrets' over Mohamed Salah feud ahead of Liverpool legend's exit

Salah accused the club of "being thrown under the bus" during a run that saw the team lose nine out of 12 matches. Nonetheless, the Liverpool boss remains steadfast in his tactical decisions despite a public breakdown in their relationship during a difficult winter period. This decision led to the forward releasing a social media video confirming that the current campaign will be his last on Merseyside, bringing the curtain down on a legendary nine-year stay that yielded two Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy.

Slot was quick to dismiss the idea that a few games on the bench dictated Salah's future. "I look back at this season thinking that I made a few decisions that could have been better but I’m not talking about this specific thing with Mo," Slot said ahead of the Reds' FA Cup quarter-final clash with Manchester City. "I don't regret many things I did during a little longer than one-and-a-half years together. Again, the assumption that if he's not playing that he wants to leave - that's the assumption being made - then he would have left one-and-a-half years ago."

"I can remember West Ham away when he wasn't playing (under Jurgen Klopp in 2024). I wasn't there. He didn’t decide to leave. The assumption is that if you don’t play in these games and all of a sudden wants to leave, it is an assumption and maybe it is true or maybe it isn’t. But history has shown is that he did not do that previously and had a great season after that."

Salah's decision to announce his exit via a social media video caught many supporters by surprise, but Slot hinted that the internal dialogue was far more extensive. The Dutchman remained tight-lipped about the specifics of their private conversations, choosing instead to respect the player's personal reasons for moving on.

"When things like this are announced to the outside world, I don't think it's a surprise for you to hear that there are a lot of discussions, talks going on between him, his agent, the club, me and him, before this comes out in the public. But, as I always said, and I'm not going to change on what has been said between the two of us, or between him and the club, that is something I'm not going to share. If he wants to share his reasons why he did it then it's up to him, but that's not up to me to speak for him," the Liverpool boss added.

Despite the public friction, Slot was full of praise for everything the forward has achieved at the club - who is third on the club's all-time list of scorers with 255. With two Premier League titles and a Champions League trophy in his cabinet, Salah leaves as one of the greatest to ever wear the red shirt, and the manager believes he has earned the right to go out on his own terms.

"I think Mo has earned the right completely to decide whenever he thinks he should leave. And he's done so many things for this club. He has to make up his own mind and that's what he did. After that incident you are referring to [at Leeds], which are incidents that happen everywhere around the world almost every day when it comes to football, you know what has happened afterwards? He went to the AFCON and when he was back at the AFCON, he played every single game. The only one who can talk about it is Mo himself. So you are now making the assumption that he wants to leave because he was out for six days. But that doesn't have to be true," Slot concluded.