Salah returns but Liverpool are left with big questions

Mohamed Salah will go away, but the issue will not.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Salah returned to the Liverpool side as a substitute against Brighton. Arne Slot may have tried to consign the issue of his remarkable interview at Leeds to the past, but he accepted others will not. “For me, it has settled down, but if the outside world wants to keep talking about it, that’s fine with me,” said the Liverpool head coach. He held talks with Salah on Friday; after being part of the decision to omit him from the squad that went to Italy for the Champions League win over Inter, he then restored him to contention on Saturday.

As Salah heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations, there are likely to be further conversations between the Egyptian’s representatives and the club during the next month. Yet if Slot suggested that the player and manager are reconciled, questions remain unanswered.

Did Salah apologise?

On Monday, explaining why Salah was not taken to Milan, Slot said: “I think usually I'm calm and polite, but that doesn't mean I'm weak.” On Saturday, after Salah came off the bench to set up Hugo Ekitike’s second against Brighton, he said another manager might have opted for a heavier punishment. “Should he be [out] once, twice, three times, four times, four months or 12 years?” he asked. “Every manager makes different decisions on that.”