Arne Slot insists Mo Salah is not distracted by the uncertainty of his future at Liverpool.
Salah, whose contract runs out at the end of this season, told NBC Sports after the win over Southampton on Saturday that he was “probably more out than in” when asked about the chances of him remaining at the club, and admitted he was disappointed that no contract offer had yet arrived.
But Slot, whose side take on Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, insists he and Salah are only focused on matters on the pitch.
“Today he is fully focused on the game (against Real Madrid). I think these kinds of things… the media and all the fans talk about it, which is completely normal – but if you had been at the AXA (training ground) today I don’t think any player talked about it, at least not while I was there.
“Players always give each other stick so maybe they did this now but players are also focused on the short term and that is Madrid and that is Manchester City (Sunday’s opponents).
“I don’t think there is any distraction for him, for the players and definitely not for me because I worked yesterday on preparing the team in the best possible way and there was not one time in my mind that I was thinking about sitting here and talking about Mo.
“I talk to Mo about what I expect from him, like I do with all the other players, and he is in a good place at the moment. I’m not distracted by his comments and I don’t feel his team-mates are. It’s nice we have a story in the media, you guys have some work now as well.”