Arne Slot, the Liverpool manager, has joked that Mohamed Salah may have played his last Anfield game against Manchester City because the Premier League champions could be relegated for spending breaches.

Slot was responding to Salah’s remarks after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over City, when the Egyptian once again raised the prospect of being on his farewell lap at Anfield with his contract expiring in July 2025.

“Maybe Mo knows more about the 115 accusations so expects them not to be in the Premier League next season! I do expect them to be in the Premier League,” said Slot.

“The boring answer is always the same. This is not the place for me to talk about Mo’s contract. Maybe I’ve already said too much about the joke I’ve just made. So that will probably get the headlines. But it was a joke, I repeat, it was a joke.”

The remark was obviously meant in good humour, although so too was the Kop chant about Pep Guardiola being “sacked in the morning”, and that met with a frosty response from the City manager and goalkeeper, Stefan Ortega. It rarely takes much to inflame tensions between the title rivals.

City are awaiting the verdict on 115 charges accusing them of breaking the Premier League profitability and sustainability rules

Slot, speaking more directly on Salah’s contribution this season, said: “Is there a danger that we rely too much on him? A bit but only for the fact he can – because he is always a human being and it happened to him last season – get an injury.

“Since Federico Chiesa has had a difficult start at the club because of injuries, we don’t really have a replacement for Mo.

“The good thing is that Harvey Elliott is getting fitter and fitter again and he has played this position many times as well. I’m not afraid that Mo’s numbers will drop at all, but when it comes to an injury for him, we are in a better position on the left wing than the right.

“But another good thing is Federico is also training with us again, he is getting back and Harvey is getting back. The best thing that can happen for us is that Mo stays fit and keeps producing these numbers.”

Salah is not hiding his desire to stay at Anfield. Paris St-Germain have distanced themselves from a move for the Egyptian as they have moved away from a “superstar” policy in the aftermath of the era of Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi, who failed to deliver the Champions League.

Salah is clearly not ready to move to the Saudi Pro League at this stage of his career.

Talks have stalled at Anfield because of the financial commitment of retaining the 32-year-old, who is earning at least £20 million a year. There are suggestions he would sign a one-year-extension if offered, but the most relevant detail remains what kind of salary he would accept to stay beyond this season.

‘I am so happy with the squad’

Liverpool head to Newcastle United on Wednesday hoping to consolidate their nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Slot has not ruled out the possibility of reinforcing in January if necessary, although he says it is not top of the agenda.

“We are having discussions every day, no matter if a window is coming up or not,” he said. “We always talk about the team, which players we like, which players are maybe not in the best place. Fortunately, we talk more about the ones that do well because most of them do really well.

“It is a bit of a worry that three defenders are out but the good thing is that if the window is open, the defenders are back. I’ve said many times at the beginning of the season, I am so, so happy with the squad we have. That’s not to say if there will be a chance in the market, this club has always shown they will go for it. That’s what happened with the goalkeeper (Georgian Giorgi Mamardashvili), who isn’t even with us yet, we felt it was a chance for us to do it.

“That is what this club is known for, what people like Richard [Hughes] and Michael Edwards are known for. We are mainly focused on Newcastle then Everton and all these nine games coming up, but it’s normal we have conversations about the squad, what we can change, yes or no, what can happen in the market.”

Slot: Newcastle and Everton away tougher tests than Real Madrid

Liverpool manager Arne Slot believes his side’s trips to Newcastle United and Everton are more daunting than recent meetings with European champions Real Madrid and Premier League holders Manchester City.

Slot says the prospect of intimidating atmospheres at St James’ Park on Wednesday and Goodison this weekend make upcoming fixtures tougher.

Asked why, Slot said: “Because both of them are away from home. We have shown that at home we are very physically strong, but after two wins like this it is sometimes difficult to show up again and again and again in an away game. Newcastle won at home against Arsenal, at home against Chelsea and drew with Manchester City, so maybe it is even more difficult to play Newcastle away than City or Real at home. I am not talking about quality. I am talking about how difficult it is to win at St James’ Park.

“Everyone really looked forward to Real Madrid and Man City and now we have had it and that can sometimes lead to feeling it was such a great experience that you want to enjoy it for a few extra days. But we don’t have that time. We immediately have to show up again in probably one of the most difficult away games that you can have in a season.”

Slot compared the challenge to when his Feyenoord team beat their title rivals.

“Normally, if you have beaten Ajax or PSV a game comes up that you can win. That is true,” he said.

“But I do remember last season when at Feyenoord we outplayed Lazio at home and everyone said that we can go to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

“We then had to play FC Twente, who you could compare with Newcastle when it comes to the league table, and we had a lot of difficulties. If you beat Real Madrid and City the teams you are then facing want to prove even more against you how good they are. You always have to be aware of that and then going to a stadium like that will help them, as playing at Anfield helped us. The combination of these factors is what makes Newcastle away such a difficult one.”

Slot, who says he has received private messages from predecessor Jurgen Klopp following his excellent start at Anfield, admits there will come a moment in the season when Liverpool will have to deal with setbacks.

“It doesn’t have to be inevitable but in a normal season of every team, even City when winning it four times in a row, they have difficult spells,” he said.

“That is because you face so many quality teams. But we are not planning for this at all. I’m not thinking: ‘How will I react then?’ Just one game at a time. Newcastle is a difficult one. Saturday is a difficult one. We want to play all of these beautiful games.”