Huge Boost for Slot as Liverpool Star Reports for Duty to Begin Pre-season Training
Mohamed Salah is set to begin his pre-season training at Liverpool today, Monday, July 8.
The Egypt international will return to the club’s AXA Training Centre for routine testing after spending over seven weeks away from Merseyside.
The forward will undergo a new fitness regimen introduced by head coach Arne Slot and performance coach Ruben Peeters, which includes a Six-Minute Race Test (6MRT) as part of the warm-up, replacing the lactate tests previously used by former boss Jurgen Klopp and his team.
Slot had several of his younger players available over the weekend, alongside more established first-team members such as Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Kostas Tsimikas, and Caoimhin Kelleher. Salah is now set to return for his first day.
The 32-year-old last played for the Reds on May 19 in a 2-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He then participated in Egypt’s World Cup qualifiers against Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau on June 6 and 10, playing the full game in both matches and scoring in the 1-1 draw with Guinea-Bissau.
Egypt had hoped to include their star player in the country’s Olympic Games football squad later this month as one of their three players over the age of 23. However, Liverpool and the player decided he would remain with the club this summer, prioritizing the pre-season schedule as crucial for launching a new regime under Slot successfully.
Had he participated in the Olympics, the forward would have missed nearly the entire summer period under Slot, as the competition runs from July 24 to August 9. Liverpool’s players typically receive a three-week holiday after fulfilling their international duties.
This was considered far from ideal, given that Liverpool start their Premier League campaign against newly-promoted Ipswich Town at 12:30 pm on Saturday, August 17. As a result, Salah has returned to the Kirkby base to commence his pre-season training.
Keeping last season’s top scorer with the team over the summer is a significant boost for Slot, who addressed the media for the first time as the new head coach on Friday morning.
Salah joins Jarell Quansah, Conor Bradley, and others at the AXA Centre for training under Slot on Friday. Fabio Carvalho, returning after a season on loan with RB Leipzig and Hull City, was also present.
The decision for Salah to stay with his club this pre-season was made with his own agreement after consultation. He is eager to start strong in this new era at Anfield under Slot.
As he enters his eighth season with the Reds, Salah is set to play under his second manager on Merseyside. He aims to maintain his influential role, similar to his time under Jurgen Klopp, during which he scored 211 goals.
Salah will join the team’s contingent flying to the United States later this month for friendlies against Real Betis, Arsenal, and Manchester United.
The tour, starting in Pittsburgh on July 26 and continuing with matches against United in Philadelphia on July 31 and Arsenal in Columbia on August 3, will feature Liverpool’s most recognizable star.
Entering the final year of the most lucrative contract in Liverpool’s history, Salah’s future was addressed by new sporting director Richard Hughes, who was reserved when discussing the matter on Friday.
“Contractual situations, I don’t think it would be fair for me to talk about,” Hughes said. “These are private matters between club and players.
“The only concern I have, that Arne has, about those situations and everyone else in the squad is that there is total commitment from the players to the cause for next season – and we are absolutely convinced that is the case.”
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