Mohamed Salah apologised to his Liverpool team-mates after his infamous rant, Curtis Jones has revealed.
In an explosive interview after the Reds drew 3-3 with Leeds two weeks ago, Salah, who had been left on the bench at Elland Road, remarkably claimed he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ by the club – and added that had no relationship with boss Arne Slot, leading to speculation surrounding his future.
He was subsequently left out of Liverpool’s squad for their win at Inter Milan before being reinstated last weekend against Brighton, where he impressed after coming off the bench in the 2-0 win.
And Jones has now shed further light on the situation and explained Salah addressed his outburst with team-mates.
‘Mo is his own man and he can say his own stuff,’ he told Sky Sports.
‘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.
Mo Salah apologised to his Liverpool team-mates after his infamous rant, it has been revealed
During Salah’s outburst, he claimed he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ by Liverpool, and added that he had no relationship with Reds boss Arne Slot
‘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.’
Jones also insisted that the squad are fully behind Salah, and said the Egyptian’s rant came from a good place.
He added: ‘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.
‘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.’
Speaking in the mixed zone after the Leeds game, the third match in a row that Salah had failed to make Liverpool’s starting XI, he had said: ‘I could not believe. I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes. That’s the third time. It’s the first time in my career I think.
‘(I am) very disappointed, I have done so much for this club over the years, especially last season. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I feel.
Curtis Jones (right) revealed the news and insisted the squad are fully behind the Egyptian
‘Someone wants me to get all the blame. The club promised me a lot in summer. Now I’m on the bench so I can say they haven’t kept those promises.
‘I used to have a good relationship (with manager Slot). Now we don’t have any relationship and I don’t know why.’
Salah’s return to the squad for the Brighton clash came after he held a meeting with Slot, and the Dutchman said afterwards that he had ‘no issue to resolve’ with the forward, who headed off to AFCON with Egypt earlier this week.
Speaking on Friday ahead of the Reds’ clash at Tottenham tomorrow, Slot insisted his side have now fully moved on from the saga.
He said: ‘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).’
