Arne Slot says Salah surprised him by saying their relationship had broken down

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot says he was "surprised" by Mohamed Salah saying their relationship had broken down, but didn't rule out a potential return for the forward.

Slot says the only communication he has had with Salah since Saturday's bombshell interview was to tell the player he would not be travelling to Italy for Tuesday's Champions League game with Inter. Asked how that conversation was, he said: "A short one."

Slot has benched Salah for Liverpool's past three games but says he didn't believe his relationship with Salah had broken down and hadn't seen indications of that until Salah's interview. "It was a surprise to me when I heard he gave the comments he gave," said Slot, in a press conference on Monday.

Slot was asked whether Salah could come back into contention for Saturday's Premier League game with Brighton at Anfield and the Dutchman says that is a decision which would be taken after the game with Inter on Tuesday night.

"I'm a firm believer there's always a possibility to return for a player," said Slot.

However, when he was pressed on whether Salah had played his final game for Liverpool, Slot said: "I have no clue, I cannot answer that question in this moment in time."

Slot also pointed out he was uncertain what or who Salah was referring to with some of his comments. But added: "I'm calm, polite - but that doesn't mean I'm weak. It's up to us as a club to react and you can see he isn't here.

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot on if he understands why Salah thinks he has been "thrown under the bus": "I would need to know what he means by it and why he says this, who he is referring to."

Have you had that conversation? "No. Not with those words. Usually I'm calm and polite but that doesn't mean I'm weak.

"If a player has these comments about so many things then it is up to me, us, as a club, to react and you can see now that he's not here."