Slot claims Salah’s Liverpool contract dispute may be bringing best out of him

Arne Slot has claimed Mohamed Salah’s contract standoff with ­Liverpool may be bringing the best out of the forward and is not a ­distraction from a hugely important week for the club.

Salah’s admission that he is “more out than in” at Liverpool owing to the absence of a contract offer has overshadowed the buildup to Wednesday’s Champions League game against Real Madrid and Manchester City’s visit in the Premier League on Sunday.

Related: Liverpool’s contract dance with Salah was always going to be complicated | Andy Hunter

Jamie Carragher accused the Egypt international of acting selfishly by going public with his disappointment after Sunday’s win at Southampton, where Salah’s 11th and 12th goals of the season stretched Liverpool’s lead at the top to eight points. Slot, however, believes the Egypt international’s discontent over contract talks, with his current deal due to expire in the summer, may be inspiring the stunning run of form that underlines his worth to the club.

“I focus a bit more on what else he [Carragher] said – that he was one of the five best players Liverpool ever had,” Slot said. “I completely agree with him, which is not an easy thing as there have been many great players at this club.

“I don’t think it distracts Mo at all, maybe it even brings the best out of him if you look at his performances until now. My focus is the next game and then we have another big game coming up and it just keeps on going. I talk to Mo about what I expect from him, like I do with all the other ­players, and he is in a good place at the moment. I’m not distracted by his comments and I don’t feel his teammates are. It’s nice we have a story in the media, you guys have some work now as well.”

Andy Robertson insisted there are no signs at the training ground of Salah’s disappointment over the contract, or on the pitch. The Scotland captain said: “Mo comes into training every single day with a smile on his face. He is in the gym working as hard as ever, he is on the training pitch working as hard as ever. He’s one of the happiest people in the training ground, that’s for sure. He enjoys every moment of being in there and you can tell.

“And he’s such a focused individual that he’ll be in his house now probably focused on tomorrow night. That’s what all the best players in the world do and Mo certainly falls into that category.”

Slot confirmed Trent Alexander-Arnold will not be fit to start against the reigning European champions – who are interested in signing the defender on a free transfer should his Liverpool contract also expire – despite returning to training after a recent hamstring injury. “Trent is in the squad but he will not be available to start,” Liverpool’s head coach said. “He can maybe make a few minutes but in an ideal world he maybe doesn’t. But if it’s really necessary he can make a few minutes but he’s not going to start.

“Federico [Chiesa] is not in the squad yet. He is not training in the whole session yet, but one or two parts of the session. Harvey Elliott is in the squad but not ready to start. Alisson is not there yet, Diogo [Jota] is not there yet and Kostas [Tsimikas] is not there. He has an injury as well. It’s quite a list for us as well [as Real].”