Slot responds to Saudi interest in Liverpool star Salah as contract ticks down

 Arne Slot can understand why Mo Salah has admirers in Saudi who will want to lure him to the Middle East.

The Liverpool boss accepts the Egyptian forward’s brilliance means that everyone wants to sign their star man. Slot is still hopeful that Salah will sign a new deal at Liverpool to extend his stay beyond this summer. But he knows that there will be other clubs desperate to land him on a free transfer this summer.

Saudi's sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, revealed in an interview this week with Piers Morgan how much he would love to bring Salah to the the oil-rich state.

"I would be surprised if there was anyone wherever around the world saying 'We don't want Mo Salah',” said Slot. “He's doing so well for so many years that everyone probably wants him.

“He has done so well without my advice for a long time so he can probably keep doing what is best for his career even without my advice. But my advice to him would be different to the one (man) you just mentioned.”

Slot was asked to expand on what his advice would be to Salah but didn’t offer many clues apart from the obvious. He said: “What I mean by different is everyone wants him, including us - we want him to extend of course as well. That is clear but I am not surprised that Saudi wants him but I would not be surprised if other countries wanted him as well.

“He is old and wise enough and done so many smart things in his career he will make the right decision for himself and hopefully for us as well.”

Salah is not the only big name at Anfield out of contract this summer with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold also into their last six months.

But Slot remains coy on his own personal discussions with the trio. The Dutchman added: "The answer is of course I speak to these players. I speak with them, not everyday like Richard [Hughes, sporting director], but quite a lot.

“And it would be ridiculous that in all the times I have spoken to these players, we have never spoken about the future.

"So of course we do [speak about their futures] but as you also probably know, that is not something I am going to discuss with you what we were talking about. But it is also not just with those three who are out of contract you also talk about future things with the other players as well.”

 

Liverpool leave 12 players out of UCL squad as Arne Slot explains changes

 The Reds head coach wanted to give big stars like Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah a rest after seven wins from seven so far in Europe meant they could be afforded such a luxury ahead of tomorrow night’s final game against PSV Eindhoven.

Slot said: “It has taken me a while to understand this new format but I’m now 100 per cent sure it doesn’t matter if you end up first or second because we are guaranteed to play the team that is 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th, and then it’s down to the draw.

“We can’t drop to third. It has no impact on the league table but we will be trying to win. A wise man once said to me he’s never seen anything good come from losing a game.”

Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz, Joe Gomez, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones were all left at home along with Salah and Van Dijk.

It gives them extra rest ahead of a tricky away trip to Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday as the Reds look to maintain their six-point lead at the top of the table. They cannot fall below third in Europe and a point at PSV will secure top spot.

The benefit of being in the top two means they won’t face the second-placed side until the final as well as a place in the last-16 and all their second-leg ties in the knockout stages will be at home.

The clash with the Dutch side could also be a chance for players like Federico Chiesa and Darwin Nunez to push for more minutes in bigger games if they impress.

But Slot said: “They don’t need to prove themselves, we know what their quality is, but we are playing many, many games and the ones we left behind could have played but we need to think long-term.

“If you look back at our season and the players who play all the time we always try to give them a break after three, four or five weeks when it’s the League Cup or FA Cup to help them get their freshness back.”

Slot confirmed those who have not travelled will have Wednesday off while the team faces PSV in Holland. They will train on Thursday and some staff here in Holland will fly back early to run the session ahead of the trip to the Vitality Stadium this weekend.

Kelleher, Jaros, Davies, Bradley, Mabaya, Quansah, Nallo, Robertson, Tsimikas, Norris, Endo, McConnell, Morton, Nyoni, Elliott, Morrison, Nunez, Chiesa, Gakpo, Danns, Kone-Doherty.

 

Slot to make Liverpool transfer decision on 'selfish' star immediately Tyler Morton is in li

 Tyler Morton is in line to start for Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday night, but may yet depart Anfield before the January transfer window slams shut.

The 22-year-old midfielder has been limited to appearances in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup so far this season and admitted after Liverpool's 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley earlier this month that he was frustrated with his lack of game time and that he may have to be "selfish" for the good of his career, whether that means a loan move or a permanent transfer.
"Definitely, it's been tough for me this season minutes-wise," Morton said after the Accrington win. "I think I've handled it very well. I've kept my head down, given it everything every day. I think I do deserve a chance. I got the chance today, hopefully people think I took it.
"I think I had a good game. It was exciting, when you don't get many chances, it's rare, you've got to take them and I think I did today. This month is obviously a big month for myself. It's decision time.
"I think I'm ready to kick on and be a proper professional. Definitely, I think I'm ready to kick on now and ready to move up a step. If that's here or if that's somewhere else, football's football. I've got to go and be a bit selfish and go with however I feel."
Morton is set to make his first appearance in Europe this season when Liverpool take on PSV Eindhoven in their final game in the revamped league phase of the Champions League. Arne Slot's side have already advanced directly to the round of 16, meaning the Dutchman has decided to rest Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch.
"The players don't need to prove themselves," Slot said of the players coming into the side. "We know what their quality is, but we are playing many, many games and the ones we left behind could have played but we need to think long-term.
"If you look back at our season and the players who play all the time, we always try to give them a break after three, four or five weeks when it's the League Cup or FA Cup to help them get their freshness back.
"It has taken me a while to understand this new format but I'm now 100% sure it doesn't matter if you end up first or second because we are guaranteed to play the team that is 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th (in the last 16), and then it's down to the draw. We can't drop to third.
"It has no impact on the league table but we will be trying to win. A wise man once said to me he's never seen anything good come from losing a game. 13 or 14 players have mostly shared the playing time so it will also be good to get other players into a game-rhythm as well because we will need them if we start to get injuries. The squad is a choice for the long term."

Liverpool stance on selling Nunez as Al-Nassr close in on striker transfer

Liverpool have no plans to part ways with striker Darwin Nunez, forcing potential suitors Al-Nassr to turn their attention to other targets.

Saudi side Al-Nassr explored a January move for the Uruguay international, but now have their sights set elsewhere. Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran is on their list, along with Bayer Leverkusen star Victor Boniface.
Things could yet change in the summer, by which point Al-Nassr will also be at a crossroadsг with top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo. For now, though, it has been claimed that Nunez is going nowhere.
According to The Athletic, Al-Nassr have a verbal agreement in place over a move for Boniface. The Nigeria international, who helped Leverkusen win the Bundesliga last season, has six goals from 10 league appearances this term.
Duran is also an option if the Saudi Pro League side ultimately move away from the 24-year-old. Villa want £80m for the Colombian, and knocked back a bid from West Ham earlier in the window.
Al-Nassr have raised funds and cleared space in their squad this month by selling Seko Fofana to Rennes and letting Anderson Talisca join Fenerbahce. Brazilian playmaker Talisca, 30, had scored 62 goals in 78 Saudi Pro League appearances.
The same publication reports that Nunez is considered an important part of Arne Slot's trophy-chasing squad, while also noting there will be a significant market for the 25-year-old if he's made available in the summer. He has been named in Slot's 21-man squad for Wednesday's Champions League game against PSV Eindhoven, despite the manager leaving senior stars including Mohamed Salah back at home.
Liverpool are already guaranteed first or second place in the league phase. Only Barcelona can catch the Reds, but a point in Eindhoven would be enough to ensure then finish top of the pile.
"It's your perception, not mine that he is struggling for confidence," Slot said of Nunez before the Brentford game. "He was involved in goals against Accrington and Fulham and he scored v Southampton. So for me it's the life of a striker, sometimes you score, sometimes you don't and he hasn't started every week.
"We score every game except for Spurs in the Cup, so that tells me we have goals in our team. Darwin will score like he has done already. I don't see him struggling that much as you see it
 

Nunez, who joined the Reds in a big-money move from Benfica in 2022, has fallen down the pecking order under Arne Slot this season. He has still chipped in with important goals, though, not least a match-winning brace away at Brentford.

Wataru Endo says Liverpool's training intensity was a key reason for his swift adaptation to the Premier League following his arrival last season.

 Wataru Endo says Liverpool's training intensity was a key reason for his swift adaptation to the Premier League following his arrival last season.

The No.3 made the switch to Merseyside from Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2023, bolstering the Reds' midfield ranks in the process.

Endo played an important role in his debut campaign at Anfield, making 43 appearances across all competitions, 29 of which came in the top division.

He also featured in a memorable Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea at Wembley – Jürgen Klopp's final piece of silverware as the club's manager – and helped Liverpool return to the Champions League with a third-placed finish in the league.

"The Premier League is very hard," Endo revealed, in episode three of the Red Machine podcast, released by Kodansha.

"It took me some time to adapt but here I play in Liverpool, so even in training the intensity is so high. We have a lot of quality players. I think it's also a good thing for me to adapt to the Premier League as well.

"We train like we play in the Premier League every day – I think that made us and me stronger."