Roy Keane’s Mohamed Salah theory was firmly dismissed by Gary Neville with a Arne Slot Liverpool hint also suggested
17:17, 26 Mar 2026Updated 21:54, 26 Mar 2026
A shocking Liverpool theory for Arne Slot’s latest Mohamed Salah decisions has been suggested by Roy Keane(Image: (Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images))
Gary Neville quickly shut down suggestions from Roy Keane that Arne Slot has been told to play Mohamed Salah by the Liverpool hierarchy. Following his bombshell exit announcement, the 33-year-old was unsurprisingly a dominant topic on the latest episode of Stick to Football.
Part of the discussion included a theory over how much Salah is playing with Neville, Keane and Jamie Carragher all sharing their thoughts. The latter began: “What I think is interesting, [is] since they had that spat when he [Slot] didn’t play him, since he came back from AFCON, he has played every game.
“Even Liverpool fans who love Salah, and I’m one of them, have looked at games and gone ‘he shouldn’t be playing’, but I wonder if the manager has gone the other way and though ‘I don’t need that hassle’.”
Keane interjected: “Maybe Slot has been under pressure from those above. I think that’s the issue.”
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Neville then quickly replied: “I’m not sure on that, no no. Look, to be fair, I don’t know Liverpool football club. I have no knowledge of their background team. I honestly believe if Liverpool’s hierarchy are telling their manager who to pick… I don’t think they would cross that line.”
Carragher later stated: “I agree with you, but my point is, Slot was strong enough to not pick the highest-paid player, but ever since, he’s just been in the team every single game.”
Since Egypt were knocked out of AFCON, Salah has featured in 14 out of a possible 15 Liverpool games. He missed last weekend’s defeat to Brighton through injury, but Slot expects him back after the international break.
Alisson could, however, still be injured by the time their FA Cup quarter-final away to Manchester City arrives. Four days on from that, Liverpool head to the Parc Des Princes with Slot likely desperate to have him back for the first leg, given his stunning performance at the same venue just over 12 months earlier.
The league game against Fulham and second leg at Anfield is followed up by a Merseyside Derby away to Everton later in the month.
Liverpool are hoping to have Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah back from injury after the international break
Alexander Isak could be available for some of those games having stepped up his recovery in recent weeks, though Slot has continued to remain realistic about when he may feature again.
He said earlier this month: “Alex is not available for tomorrow [vs Brighton], but the fact that you see him on the pitch tells you that he gets closer and closer to joining us again.
“He will not be available for Saturday as well. As long as you don’t train with the team yet, you are not ready to play.”
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