Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard calls for Mohamed Salah to stay and resolve his dispute with the club after the forward’s explosive public outburst
LIVERPOOL legend Steven Gerrard has urged Mohamed Salah to stay at the club and “reverse away” from his public criticism of the management.
The former captain believes the club still needs its star forward despite his extraordinary outburst accusing them of “throwing him under the bus”.
Salah was omitted from Liverpool’s Champions League squad for the win at Inter Milan following his comments after being benched for the Premier League draw at Leeds.
“He’s obviously really upset he’s not playing, which I respect,” Gerrard told TNT Sports.
“A couple of lines about throwing people under the bus, wrong. Need to reverse a little bit away from that, to deal with that with the manager.”
Gerrard added that bust-ups between players and management were nothing new at Anfield.
He referenced past incidents involving Luis Suarez and his own infamous red card against Manchester United.
“So no one’s perfect and we’ve all had head loss as players, where we’ve done emotional things,” Gerrard said.
Salah’s remarks have sparked speculation the 33-year-old could leave in January despite signing a new contract in April.
Interest from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has been piqued, with a source saying it will do “whatever it can” to sign him.
Gerrard, however, stressed Salah’s importance to the struggling Premier League champions.
“At the end of the day, Liverpool need Mo Salah back playing well, scoring goals because he is the best player, the best scorer, and he will help them get out of this,” he said.
Manager Arne Slot tried to shift focus to the players who secured victory in Milan.
Salah is set to depart for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s match against Brighton.
The Egyptian forward has scored just four goals in 13 league appearances this season, with Liverpool tenth in the table. – AFP
