Arne Slot made a joke on Mohamed Salah’s claim that the reason he was talking about meeting Manchester City for the last time was because the reigning champions may be demoted due to allegations of financial malfeasance.
With a 2-0 victory over City, Liverpool moved nine points clear of City at the top of the Premier League standings. Salah contributed to the victory by providing an assist and scoring from the penalty spot.
And at full-time, the Egyptian attacker, whose contract will expire the next summer, made a veiled reference to the possibility that he could have played against Pep Guardiola’s team for the final time at Anfield.
Slot, on the other hand, indicated that Salah was just referring to the likelihood of City being demoted in the event that they were found guilty of 115 allegations of suspected financial irregularities, rather than his own contact discussions.
At this time, City is still waiting for a decision in their continuing appeal with the Premier League. This is despite the fact that they have not won in seven matches across all competitions. The eight-time winners have always denied any wrongdoing, but if they are proven guilty, there is a remote prospect that they may be demoted.
When questioned about Salah’s words after the victory over the weekend, Slot responded by saying, “Maybe Mo knows more about the 115 [charges], so he doesn’t expect them to be in the Premier League next season.” Slot was responding to Salah’s statements.
To make it clear that he was kidding, the Dutchman continued by saying, “I do anticipate that they will be playing in the Premier League.” What a hilarious joke! As I have stated before, that was a joke.
“The answer is guaranteed to be the same every time,” This is not the appropriate forum for me to discuss Salah’s contract, and it’s possible that I’ve already disclosed too much information regarding the joke that I just made. It is likely that this will be included in the news.
In an effort to keep their position at the top of the table, Slot’s team will have to contend with yet another challenging set of fixtures this week.
After playing Newcastle in the north on Wednesday, the Reds will return to Merseyside for the Merseyside derby against Everton on Saturday.
Slot said that he was more than happy to wait until the Brazillian was fully healthy considering the superb form of his understudy Caoimhin Kelleher. First-choice custodian Alisson Becker is getting closer to returning to the starting XI, but Slot insisted that he was willing to wait until Becker was totally fit.
It is only that we are waiting for Alisson to be entirely healthy because Caoimhin [Kelleher] is performing too well to put Alisson on goal if he is just fifty percent fit, he added. “I think I have been clear about what my position is about our goalkeepers a few weeks ago,” he said.
Such a situation would not be beneficial for Alisson, nor would it be beneficial for the squad as a whole. There is a possibility that it may take a few more days, but he is getting closer and closer to his destination.
It is usually the case that the final part of a rehabilitation program is the time when you are left wondering, “Okay, is he really there or does he need extra days?” I have always stated this. In the event that things continue as they are at the moment, however, he will be in goal before the month of December is up.
