Liverpool boss Arne Slot refuses to read into Mohamed Salah’s social media posts

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot refused to read any hidden meaning in rare Mohamed Salah social media posts which ramped up speculation about his future.

After scoring the winner against Brighton on Saturday the Egypt international, who regularly posts pictures but hardly ever accompanies them with words, filled his social media channels with the same message.

He wrote: “Top of the table is where this club belongs. Nothing less. All teams win matches but there’s only 1 champion in the end. That’s what we want. Thank you for your support last night. No matter what happens, I will never forget what scoring at Anfield feels like.”

That last sentence piqued the interest as the 32-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season and has dropped similar sentiments into interviews he has done.

In the new role – for Liverpool – of head coach Slot has no influence over contracts as sporting director Richard Hughes handles those.

It gives the Dutchman a way out of the regular questions he receives not only about Salah but also captain Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose contracts also expire in the summer.

“I haven’t spoken to him about that. We have spoken about Leverkusen because that team deserves all of our attention for the quality they have,” said Slot ahead of the Champions League visit of Bayer Leverkusen, managed by another Liverpool great Xabi Alonso.

“You interpreted it in a way that maybe other people don’t. I don’t look at Instagram posts of my players, I only talk to them, which you can’t, which is the advantage I have.

“What he said with that, that is not important. For me what is important is how he plays and what he tells me when we have conversations.

“That is what matters and not how you guys interpret one of his posts.

“He is out of contract at the end of the season – Virgil said something in the press – and now he (Salah) has a post which you interpreted in a certain way.

“This will probably continue for as long as their futures are not clear. I don’t know what the future brings but I do know Mo is in a very good place at the moment.”

The 2021-22 season saw a similar debate about Salah’s future but when he agreed a three-year extension in the summer he still had 11 months remaining on his existing deal.

That made him the highest-paid player in the club’s history on a reported £350,000 a week and the stumbling block for Liverpool is whether it makes good financial sense to extend – and most likely increase – that for a player who turns 33 in June.

However, Salah currently shows no signs of faltering with seven goals in 10 Premier League matches – nine in all competitions – with his goal against Brighton taking him past another Anfield favourite Robbie Fowler into eighth place on the all-time Premier League goalscorers list.

By the end of the campaign he could pass Thierry Henry and Frank Lampard, with Sergio Aguero and Andrew Cole both in his sights – but only if he remains in England.

“There is no reason at the moment to think that he is dropping in terms of level,” said Slot of a player who needs only one more to become only the only the 11th player to score 50 Champions League goals.

“That’s not what you see when you look at his numbers or what you see when he plays, but I cannot tell you how the future will look like.

“Some players Cristiano Ronaldo, what age is he at the moment?. Messi (37) is still incredible.

“But there are also players like me who weren’t as good anymore at 33, not that I was so good at 26. I regressed worse than Ronaldo and Messi.”