Arne Slot fends off awkward questions over Mo Salah's future with 'joke'

Arne Slot has sent a thinly-veiled jibe at rivals Manchester City after their 2-0 win over Pep Guardiola's side on Sunday when fielding questions about Mohamed Salah.

The Reds inflicted a bruising defeat on their Premier League title rivals at Anfield on Sunday to move nine points clear of second-placed Arsenal at the top of the table, and 11 ahead of Manchester City.

Salah starred for the Reds with a goal and assist in the encounter, which piled further pressure on Liverpool with the Egyptian superstar currently out of contract at the end of the season.

He had previously spoken out about the situation after the win against Southampton, claiming 'I'm probably more out than in'.

Following his starring role against City, he had then fanned the flames further by hinting that it could be his 'the last City game I play for Liverpool' at home, which prompted further questions over the forward's future at Anfield.

Slot, though, evaded the tricky line of inquiry, and instead aimed a dig at his title rivals, and the 115 charges of breaching financial regulations that City are currently facing.

Asked whether Salah's comments were 'part of a dance' that ends in the player signing on and committing his future to the Anfield club, Slot laughed before giving his response.

'Maybe Mo knows more about the 115 accusations so he expects them not to be in the Premier League next season!,' he said, chuckling, 'I do expect them in the Premier League.'

'No, the boring answer is always the same, this is not the place for me to talk about Mo's contract. Maybe I've said already too much about the joke I've made, which will probably get the headlines.

'It was a joke, I repeat it was a joke!'

Salah is one of three Liverpool players whose contracts are up at the end of the campaign, with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold also facing uncertainty over their futures.

Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, where his close friend Jude Bellingham stars in midfield.

The trio will be able to enter contract negotiations from the start of January with foreign clubs, meaning the pressure will likely only increase on Liverpool to tie down their three key figures for the future.

The Liverpool head coach admitted there are 'discussions every day' about potential transfer targets but is optimistic he will not have to go into the market to solve a defensive injury crisis.

Last week Ibrahima Konate, a virtual ever-present alongside Virgil van Dijk, and Conor Bradley joined Kostas Tsimikas on the sidelines for what is expected to be a lengthy spell after sustaining problems against Real Madrid.

After their failure in the summer to sign Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi the only addition to the squad came late in August with the arrival of Federico Chiesa, who has barely featured due to fitness issues.

Slot said they were continually looking at possibilities for strengthening but defence was probably not an area.

'We are having discussions every day, no matter if there is a window coming up or not,' he said.

'It is a bit of a worry at the moment that three defenders are out but the good thing is, once the window opens, the defenders are back.'