Mohamed Salah has returned to Liverpool’s squad for Saturday’s Premier League clash against Brighton following what club insiders described as productive, clear-the-air discussions between the forward and head coach Arne Slot on Friday.
The move comes as Liverpool grapple with a wave of injuries, prompting Slot to take a pragmatic stance as he seeks to stabilize the team’s league form.
While tensions remain, Salah and his agent, Ramy Abbas, are still in discussions with the club to resolve outstanding issues as the Egyptian prepares to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Salah, 33, was left out of the squad for Tuesday’s Champions League trip to Inter Milan after publicly stating that his relationship with Slot had broken down and that he had been “thrown under the bus.” His comments followed the 3-3 draw at Leeds, which marked his third consecutive match on the bench.
In the same interview, Salah suggested Saturday’s match could be his farewell appearance at Anfield and revealed that his mother had been invited to attend.
Speaking during Friday’s press conference, Slot maintained that there was “no reason not to want Mohamed Salah to stay,” adding that the future would depend on his upcoming conversation with the player. “The outcome of that conversation determines how things will look,” he said.
Liverpool face Brighton at 15:00 GMT, looking to recover after back-to-back league draws.
Salah has not started a match since the Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven on 26 November, and his latest appearance came as a substitute in the 1-1 draw against Sunderland on 3 December. He has been an unused substitute in two of Liverpool’s last three league matches.
Slot added: “After the Sunderland game, there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, and between him and me.”
Salah will depart for AFCON duty on Monday and could miss up to eight Liverpool games if Egypt reach the final in Morocco on 18 January.
This season, Salah has scored five goals in 18 appearances across the Premier League and Champions League, bringing his overall tally for the club to 250 goals in 420 games.
