Online Reporter
MOHAMED Salah took everything in at full-time of Liverpool’s 2-0 English Premier League football win over Brighton on Saturday, applauding all four sides of Anfield while home fans serenaded their “Egyptian king” with his familiar song.
By the time he reached the tunnel he was the last player on the pitch, giving a little wave towards the main stand, where his family were sat.
A goodbye perhaps? Only for now, it seems. Salah will join Egypt in Cairo over the coming days as they prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations — but the message after manager Arne Slot’s post-match news conference was clear.
“There is no issue for me to resolve,” said Slot. “For me, he is now the same as any other player. There is nothing for me to talk about after what happened against Leeds.”
But if there is anything to prove when Salah returns to the pitch, he will do it against Zimbabwe, and he could be brutal in Morocco.
Egypt face the Warriors in their group B opener on December 22, with indications he could come in full force. South Africa and Angola completes that AFCON group.
But this could be a crucial moment for Salah to play away from the drama at Anfield which saw him frozen out days ago for the champions league game before bouncing back for the Brighton win.
This is coming just days after Salah’s outburst and the drama that followed.
In his outburst at Elland Road last Saturday — where he claimed to have been “thrown under the bus” by the club and had no relationship with his Dutch boss — Salah said this game against Brighton could well be his farewell. Having been left out of the squad for the midweek Champions League win at Inter Milan, he came off the bench against the Seagulls as a 26th-minute replacement for the injured Joe Gomez.
And the expectation now is very much that the 33-year-old will return to Liverpool next month after international duty.
Talks are still planned between both parties while Salah is away but, a week on from his emotional interview at Leeds, he was all smiles in the mixed zone at Anfield as he walked past the media and was asked for a chat.
“Two weeks in a row? No, no,” joked Salah.
There was no effort on Salah’s part to speak again or publicly apologise, but Slot gave a clear “yes” when asked if he wanted the frontman back after the Africa Cup of Nations. The understanding is their meeting last Friday was positive.
Asked if Salah wanted to stay, the Reds boss added: “That I think you already know the answer. What has been said between us stays between us. He was in the squad and my first substitution.”
For the fifth game in a row, Salah wasn’t in the starting line-up. But, when defender Gomez was injured, Slot turned to the bench and put on the man who has scored 250 goals for Liverpool in his eight years with the club. There were no boos. Just applause and appreciation.
Salah didn’t add to that goal tally, but did get the assist for Hugo Ekitike’s second on the hour mark. — Zimpapers Sports Hub /BBC Sport.
