Dejan Lovren says Mohamed Salah would have stayed at Liverpool if he had known Arne Slot was leaving sooner, a remark that cuts through the speculation around one of the club's biggest summer changes. The former defender told WinWin that Salah will not reverse his decision to go, even though he believes the forward would have stayed 100 per cent had the timing been different.
The timing matters because Liverpool are already deep into a summer of transition, with Slot dismissed and Andoni Iraola installed as head coach. Salah left this summer after joining Liverpool in 2017, and Lovren's view suggests the decision had hardened before any late hope from supporters that the coaching change might alter it.
Lovren's argument was blunt. He said it is difficult for Salah to change course now that the club has already announced the details of his departure, including the public goodbye that followed. That leaves Liverpool with a major hole to fill and no sign that one of their defining players is heading back through the door.
There is also a wider football case behind the emotion. Lovren said it would be foolish to argue Liverpool no longer need Salah, insisting the forward can still perform at the highest level for another two or three years. That assessment sits awkwardly beside the relationship problems that were reported in the latter half of the campaign, when Salah and Slot were said to be strained and Salah delivered two public tirades.
For Liverpool, the consequence is straightforward: the debate is no longer about whether Slot's exit can bring Salah back, but about where Salah goes next. He has not revealed his next club, and the uncertainty will linger while the champions reshape themselves under Iraola and try to absorb another major loss to the squad's identity.
