Mohamed Salah has apologised to his Liverpool team-mates for his controversial interview at Elland Road when he said he had been thrown under the bus by the club.
Midfielder Curtis Jones revealed that Salah was remorseful towards his team-mates after creating a storm when he accused Liverpool of breaking promises to him, said he had no relationship with manager Arne Slot and brought his future at Anfield into doubt.
Salah was subsequently omitted from the squad that travelled to Italy to face Inter Milan, when they were already depleted by injuries, though not disciplined by Liverpool.
He returned to contention by appearing as a substitute in last week’s win over Brighton, before departing to link up with Egypt for the African Cup of Nations.
But while Slot has not divulged if Salah said sorry to him, Jones said the winger talked to his fellow players.
Jones told Sky Sports: “Mo is his own man and he can say his own stuff. He apologised to us and was like, ‘If I’ve affected anybody or made you feel any sort of way, I apologise’. That’s the man that he is.
“I can only speak from me knowing Mo and how he is with us and how he acted on that. He was positive as well. He was the exact same Mo, he had a big smile on his face and everybody was exactly the same with him. I guess it’s just part of wanting to be a winner and I don’t think he will be the last.”
Jones was forgiving of Salah, believing his outburst stemmed from frustration after being left out of the team for three consecutive games.
He added: “I get that there are certain ways you can go about things, but if a lad’s fine to just be on the bench and he doesn’t want to play and help the team, then I think that’s more of an issue.
“When there’s been any sort of anger from us, including myself, it’s always been from a good place. In the moment, it might not have come out in the right way, but it’s never been to affect the team, the staff, the manager, anybody like that. We’re past that now and we’re gelling well as a team, playing well and starting to win games.”
