Liverpool manager Arne Slott held a press conference ahead of the FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has insisted he has no regrets about how he has managed Mohamed Salah this season, even after the Egyptian star confirmed his intention to leave the team at the end of the season.
Salah’s decision to announce his departure via a video on social media surprised many fans, but Slot hinted that the internal dialogue was much broader, but he remained silent about the details of their private conversations, preferring to respect the player’s personal reasons for wanting to leave.
The Liverpool coach spoke about the reasons for Salah's departure, saying: "I would be surprised if Salah did not come out at some point to explain why he made this decision. It is not my place to do that; he is the one who decides, and I will not go into all these assumptions. We must be careful about assumptions."
Slot was asked whether he was seen in some circles as the bad guy behind Salah's departure in light of the player's outspoken criticism of the club in December.
However, Slot insisted that he would not have handled the situation with the club legend any differently, saying in comments published by the English newspaper "The Guardian": "Yes (he is happy with the way he handled things)."
He added: "Looking back at this season, I think that I made some decisions that could have been better, but I don't talk about this specifically with Mo. I don't regret much of what I did during the year and a half we spent together, or even longer."
He continued: "The assumption that if he doesn't play he wants to leave, if that were true he would have left a year and a half ago. I remember the West Ham away game when he didn't play (under Jurgen Klopp in April 2024). I wasn't there then and he didn't decide to leave."
Salah will leave Liverpool this summer after nine years, leaving a huge void.
The Egyptian striker won two Premier League and Champions League titles, along with many other titles.
Salah has scored 255 goals for the club - the Reds' third all-time top scorer - and will go down in the club's history as one of its all-time greats.
