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‘My gut feeling’ – Gary Neville makes Mohamed Salah transfer prediction after Liverpool return | Football
Gary Neville says he expects Mohamed Salah to stay put until the end of the season after the forward made his return for Liverpool in the side’s 2-0 win over Brighton.
Salah sent shockwaves around the game with a bombshell interview following the Reds’ 3-3 draw with Leeds last weekend, in which he suggested he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ by Arne Slot.
It came after Slot had decided to name Salah amongst his substitutes for three games in succession, with the 33-year-old remaining on the bench for the entirety of the Premier League contest at Elland Road.
Liverpool and Slot were emphatic with their response to Salah’s explosive remarks, leaving the Egyptian out of their squad that went on to beat Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
It led to serious questions over Salah’s Liverpool future in what is the superstar attacker’s ninth season on Merseyside.
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However, Slot sprung a surprise by recalling Salah for Liverpool’s clash with Brighton on Saturday – and an early Joe Gomez injury meant the former Chelsea man was introduced after only 26 minutes.
After providing the assist for the second of Hugo Ekitike’s goals on the hour-mark, Salah was seen taking in the applause from the Anfield crowd as he did a lap of the pitch.
What did Salah say? Key quotes from explosive interview
- On being benched again versus Leeds: ‘The third time on the bench, I think for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed to be fair. I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.’
- On his relationship with Arne Slot: ‘I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.’
- On whether Saturday’s game against Brighton could be his last Liverpool game: ‘In my head, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen now. I will be in Anfield to say goodbye to the fans and go the Africa Cup (of Nations). I don’t know what is going to happen when I am there.’
- On whether he regrets signing a new contract last season: ‘Imagine how bad that I have to answer it, honestly. That hurts, even the question hurts. This club, signing for this club, I will never regret it. I thought I’m going to renew here and end my career here, but this is not according to the plan.’
- On transfer interest from the Saudi Pro League: ‘I don’t want to answer this question, because the club is going to take me to a different direction.’
‘Look, I’m not neutral in this in the sense that I’m obviously a Manchester United fan,’ Neville told NBC Sports when asked what the future holds for Salah following Liverpool’s 2-0 victory.
‘But if I’m talking about it from a Premier League perspective, I think it was a smart move yesterday for Liverpool and Arne Slot to get Mohamed Salah on the pitch to diffuse the situation.
‘It was at boiling point after his interview.
‘I’d like to think he’s going to go away and they’re going to come – or they have come – to some form of compromise, that yesterday wasn’t a lap of honour of him leaving, it was more of a case of him going to AFCON and then he can come back and play for Liverpool.
‘However, nothing would surprise you.’
The Saudi Pro League has long been mooted as a possible destination for Salah, with Al Ittihad making an unsuccessful £150million bid for the Egypt international back in September.
But Neville has a ‘gut feeling’ that Salah will still be a Liverpool player when the January transfer window closes.
The ex-Manchester United and England right-back added: ‘The one thing that I feel about this is that Arne Slot said he was looking for an apology.
‘We’ve not heard that he has apologised so is it actually behind them both? Is he behind the manager?
‘Ultimately, if it was our manager [Sir Alex Ferguson] back in the day at Manchester United, he would want some form of apology. Situations like that did happen so maybe he will leave.
‘But my gut feeling is that he stays this season at Liverpool.’
Speaking to Sky Sports after Liverpool’s victory, Slot insisted it was an ‘easy decision’ to recall Salah, the third highest goalscorer in the club’s history.
‘What’s been said between the two of us, I’ve said many times, for me that stays between us,’ the Liverpool head coach said.
‘He was back in the squad and we needed him.’
On Salah’s performance, the Dutchman added: ‘He was a threat, the first ball he touched he almost gave an assist to [Alexis] Mac Allister.
‘He was constantly involved, pleasing but also not a surprise because he’s done that many times.’
Liverpool will look to make it three wins on the bounce in all competitions when they return to Premier League action away to Tottenham next weekend.
Salah will not be available for the clash, with the three-time PFA Player of the Year joining up with his Egypt team-mates for the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
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