'The Salah situation could get draining'

Arne Slot saw the question coming and swerved the answer superbly.

Asked about Mo Salah's contract situation after the Egyptian had said after the 3-0 win at Manchester United that Liverpool had not spoken to him about it, Slot said he didn't deal with contracts but he could talk for hours about the forward's performance at Old Trafford.

Asked to talk about Salah's performance, Slot said he had played well but isolating him would mean not praising all the other players in his team who had done just as well.

Not exactly hours then. But it was an astute way of dealing with a major issue.

The problem for Slot is the questions won't go away until there is a final decision - and if the decision ends up being Salah leaving next summer, he will just get another barrage of different, but related questions.

Liverpool have been foot perfect so far this season.

The transition out of the Jurgen Klopp era could not have gone much better.

But the Salah situation could get draining if sporting director Richard Hughes and football chief executive Michael Edwards don't deal with it.