Arne Slot has insisted he is not concerned by Mohamed Salah's recent admission that he felt "more out than in" at Liverpool regarding the player's expiring contract.
Salah is approaching the final six months of his contract and shocked fans with the revelation that he has not yet been formally offered an extension, despite the fact he could sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club in just over four weeks' time.
Quizzed on whether Salah, who has racked up 12 goals and ten assists in 18 appearances this season, is distracted by his future, Slot urged doubters to look at his performances for the answer.
"People tell me about [Salah's comments] but I've said many times, we don't share [in press conferences] - at least I don't share here," he began. "The only thing I can say is, if I look at my lineups, Mo is more in than out. That quote I can give you.
"We want his numbers to be where they are at the moment, because those are the numbers Mo always had and still has. I don't think he is distracted at all. I haven't seen that after the [Manchester] United game, when he made some comments, after a [social media] post you told me about... afterwards he just kept on scoring.
"He is just fully focused on the game. These kind of things are in the media and fans talk about it, which is completely normal, but if you were at the AXA [training ground] today, I don't think any players talked about it, at least not when I was there. The players are also focused on the short-term, and that's [Real] Madrid and [Manchester] City.
"I don't think there is any distraction at all for him or for the players, and definitely not for me, Yesterday, I worked on preparing the team in the best possible way, and there was not one time in my mind that I thought, 'Oh, I'm sitting here tomorrow talking about Mo'."
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has been criticial of Salah for both making the comments about his contract situation and the timing of them ahead of a busy week.
Liverpool sit top of both the Champions League and Premier League tables after a stunning start to life under Slot, whose mettle will be tested. Reigning European champions Real Madrid travel to Anfield on Wednesday, before domestic champions Manchester City make the trip on Sunday.
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