Arne Slot has reacted to Mohamed Salah declaring he is in his "last year at the club" after Liverpool's rout of Manchester United. The Reds hammered their rivals 3-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon with Salah grabbing one goal and two assists.
Post-match, the forward, who turned 32 in June, joined Dave Jones, Roy Keane and Daniel Sturridge on Sky Sports' live broadcast. And mid-interview he said that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season.
The Egyptian, who has contributed 213 goals and 90 assists since joining from Roma in the summer of 2017, sees his current contract expire next July. There have not yet been talks over an extension.
He told Sky: "I had a good summer and had a long time to myself to try to stay positive. As you know, it's my last year at the club.
Related articles
"I just want to enjoy it and I don't want to think about it. I feel like I'm free to play football and then we'll see what happens next year. Coming into the game, I said it could be the last time [I play here with Liverpool].
"No-one at the club has spoken to me about contracts, so I'm just like: 'OK, I'm playing my last season' and see what happens at the end of the season. It's not up to me, but nobody's talked to me from the club. We will see."
And Slot, asked about Salah's comments in his post-match press conference, reacted: "It's a lot of ifs. At this moment he's one of ours and I'm really, really happy with him being one of ours.
"He plays really well. We, I, don't talk about contracts from players but I can talk for hours about how Mo played today. Are you interested in that? He was impressive, like the first two games as well.
"If you talk about an individual you don't do justice to all the other ones because I think today you saw a real good team performance."
Ex-Liverpool striker Sturridge said after Salah's interview: "I would be surprised [if Liverpool let him go]. Mo has achieved pretty much everything he could at the club but I've not seen him happier.
"The way he was speaking then was as if, 'I want to be at the club'. If the club are going to give him what he wants then he'll stay. I really hope he does stay because he's been magnificent."
DON'T MISS...
Man Utd backed to sack Erik ten Hag after embarrassing Liverpool loss [VERDICT]
Gary Neville blanks Jamie Carragher in frosty Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool moment [AWKWARD]
Casemiro suffers new low as Man Utd booed in another heavy Liverpool loss [ANALYSIS]
Reds legend Jamie Carragher then joined the Sky team and said: "I think Mo Salah is obsessed, like [Cristiano] Ronaldo, with records and longevity. Most of us think, when you get to 35, you're done in football.
"The way that lad looks after himself, I think he's thinking of playing until he's 40, or late 30s at least.
"I don't think a Saudi situation is on the cards next season. He's too good. He's playing in the best league in the world, for one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"Whether it's in another season or two seasons' time, he's alongside Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard as the top players to play for Liverpool. He's possibly the best wide player we've seen in the Premier League, even if hasn't got the medals that maybe some others have got.
"Of course you fight to keep him. It's not about throwing money at him. It's not what you've done in the past, it's what you're doing in the future. When you get into your mid-30s, you can't do what you did before - but he might be different.
"Of course Liverpool want to keep him and Virgil van Dijk, but it will probably be about wages. Are they still on the same wages because, in the next two or three years, will they still be the same players? That's the debate that will be had.
"I would be very surprised if Salah isn't playing for Liverpool next season because I think he'll want to blitz every record in the club's history."
