Liverpool news: Arne Slot doubts as Reds hand Mohamed Salah transfer ultimatum

With a new manager in place and the summer transfer window now nearly in June, there is plenty to think about on Merseyside. So with that in mind, here are the latest headlines from Mirror Football.

Benitez raises doubts about Slot

Slot doesn’t officially start his new role until June 1, but he’s already been given some sage advice from a former Liverpool manager. Slot is swapping Feyenoord for Liverpool and will no doubt encounter some problems in his new role.

“If you’re asking my opinion on what lies ahead for Arne Slot, it’s important to remember the context because you have to compare Liverpool now with when I joined in 2004,” Rafa Benitez wrote for The Telegraph. “Following Jurgen Klopp is not easy, but the most important question for any manager coming into a new club is always: ‘How good are the players?’ and “Can they fit how we want to play?”.

Benitez suggested that increased media scrutiny could be problematic for Slot, while he also stressed that the first signings of his era will be “massive”. Benitez himself signed Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia, and the two Spaniards made an immediate impact to help his transition.

Salah transfer tip

Liverpool have been told they should sell Mohamed Salah this summer if a club in Saudi Arabia are willing to pay £100m. Salah has indicated he will stay put and play for Slot next season, but is out of contract in June 2025 and has attracted a lot of interest from elsewhere.

Danny Murphy told talkSPORT: “I wouldn’t sell Salah unless he says, ‘I want to leave.’ (But) it depends on the quantity. He’s 31, (if) £100m comes and he wants to go, he has to go.”

He added: “If I got £100m for Salah, gave the £100m to Palace and got (Michael) Olise and (Eberechi) Eze, I’d get two for the price of one.”

The Reds take £300,000 off the wage bill

Klopp is not the only person leaving Liverpool this summer, with defender Joel Matip and midfielder Thiago Alcantara bidding farewell to the club. And their exits will free up some payroll space.

The Liverpool duo will leave the club as free agents when their contracts expire on July 1, taking with them their respective wages of £100,000 and £200,000-a-week. Thiago has been injured all season but is currently the third highest earner at the club behind only Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

His departure will see Trent Alexander-Arnold move up to third in the pecking order, unless some new high-profile signings arrive this summer.

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