Arne Slot insists Liverpool have fully moved on from the Mohamed Salah situation and their only focus is now on what is best for the team.
Salah spoke out at Leeds a fortnight ago to say he had no relationship with the head coach and the club had thrown him ‘under the bus’. It led to him being dropped from the squad and talk to ramp up about a fractious exit from the club.
But the Egyptian was back in the squad for last weekend’s win against Brighton and got an assist.
Slot said on Friday morning: ‘Actions speak louder than words and we moved on, he was in the squad and the first sub I made.
‘But now he is at the Africa Cup of Nations playing big games for himself and also the country so I think it is fair to them and also to us that all the focus is for him over there. And there should not be any distraction from me.
‘We have moved on after the Leeds interview and he played against Brighton. So it is fair for us to talk about Tottenham (who Liverpool play on Saturday).’
Arne Slot has insisted Liverpool have ‘moved on’ from the Mohamed Salah situation
Slot confirmed Daily Mail Sport’s news that Jeremie Frimpong will be back in the squad to face Tottenham after injury
The Liverpool boss praised Hugo Ekitike’s displays after four goals in his last two league games
Slot also disclosed several interesting snippets of team news in his Friday morning media briefing.
Confirming Daily Mail Sport’s information in our live Liverpool question and answer session on Wednesday, Jeremie Frimpong is back in the squad to face Tottenham but fellow defender Joe Gomez will miss out with a hamstring injury.
Dominik Szoboszlai is back in training after a minor ankle knock and Cody Gakpo’s blow is better than first feared and he should be back sooner than planned – though he is likely to miss the next two games against Spurs and Wolves.
The boss also hailed striker Hugo Ekitike, who has scored four goals in his last two league outings. Asked if he was surprised at the Frenchman’s ability, Slot said: ‘No, he didn’t (surprise me) because we knew what type of player we signed.
‘He had to go off in the Brighton game after 70 minutes because he had a cramp, but he did almost double the amount of work he did three months ago when I also had to take him off.
‘His ability to score, his technique, his speed, it’s just what he has, so no one is surprised to see that.
‘He’s improved a lot in terms of how much he runs and how hard he works. That is a big help for the team because people focus on goals but he helps us out now defensively as well. That is very important for a No.9.
‘I’ve probably spoken more with him about what I expect more defensively than offensively. Before we signed him, he had no problems with that. After I signed him, he sometimes felt, “Can we also talk about offence?!”.’
