Liverpool icon Steven Gerrard has shared insights into his conversation with Mohamed Salah during the winger’s contentious dispute with manager Arne Slot last December. Gerrard expressed that Salah’s forthcoming departure is “in everyone’s best interests.”
Last week, the 33-year-old Salah announced his decision to leave the Premier League champions at the season’s end, concluding a remarkable nine-year tenure at Anfield.
This announcement came four months after Salah accused Liverpool of betraying him and stated that his relationship with Slot had deteriorated significantly.
Gerrard commented, “I believe the timing is right, and it’s beneficial for all parties involved.”
He continued, “Clearly, there has been a disagreement between Salah and the manager. The interview he gave is something I think he might regret in the future, but it highlighted an underlying issue.”
Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool at the end of the season and Steven Gerrard believes it’s the right decision
Gerrard has opened up on a conversation he had with Salah following his row with Arne Slot
Gerrard also mentioned, “Even before this, Liverpool was only willing to offer Salah a one-year extension. Due to his exceptional performance and impressive stats, they extended it to two years.”
‘For me, I only ever saw it as a one-year at that level. We’ve all played in those years and I just think for everyone, it’s in everyone’s [best] interest for it to end, but also end on Mo Salah’s terms.
‘I spoke to him around that interview at the time and sort of said to him “don’t do what you’ve done and go under a cloud”. I spoke to him direct.
‘He texts me now and again, or I text him, more to do if I’m going somewhere with Lio. Just so Lio (Gerrard’s son) can see him.
‘I’m not close to him, but it gave me the opportunity to say “You’ve been here for eight or nine years, you’ve come here and got this legacy. Just go on your terms the right way”.’
Salah, who is the third-highest scorer in Reds history with 255 goals, has struggled to find the net with his usual regularity this season, bagging just five in 22 Premier League matches so far.
His dip in form led to Slot dropping the winger during the winter period, when Liverpool were enduring a difficult spell, which prompted Salah to lash out in the mixed zone following the Reds’ dramatic 3-3 draw with Leeds at Elland Road before Christmas.
Gerrard continued: ‘[Salah’s] still a little emotional from the incident. He was sub and in and out of the team at the time. He was upset. But I just thought it would have been a shame if he’d left in January and just left.
‘I understand both sides of it. Now that I’ve done a bit of managing myself, I understand both sides of it.’
The former Liverpool captain explained how he could relate to Salah, recalling a debacle he had with Brendan Rodgers at the back end of his 17-year spell at Anfield.
Salah had a public fallout with Arne Slot and the club in December, claiming he had been thrown ‘under the bus’
‘I had a similar thing with Brendan,’ he added. ‘But when I look back at it now, I’m out of the game and less emotional, you understand it from where Brendan is.
‘Maybe you’re not the same player at 34 or 35. There’s no real way you should play every minute of every game just because you’re the captain, but at the time, it’s not easy when you’re in the team or squad and you’re about to play Man United for example and you’re sub.
‘You look at the players who are playing and think you’re just as good, if not better than those players. It’s difficult in the player’s situation. I had the situation at Rangers with Jermain Defoe, who was brilliant for me, top around the place.
‘Best professional you’ll work with, he wanted to play more and play every minute of every game because he was in the position I was in under Brendan.
‘But as a manager, you have to do what’s right and what’s best for the team and if someone is out of form, or not playing, or can’t do the job you’re looking for, as a manager you have to make big decisions.’
