Arne Slot Using Mohamed Salah's Comments To Joke About Manchester City's Indictment Of Financial Violations

JAKARTA - Liverpool manager Arne Slot joked that Manchester City may not be in the Premier League next season amid ongoing investigations into the club's compliance with financial rules.

The Premier League charged The Citizens with 115 charges of violating financial regulations in February 2023 after opening an investigation five years earlier.

Slot's comments came in response to questions about Mohamed Salah's future at Liverpool after the Egyptian international led his team to a 2-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday, December 1, 2024.

Salah had said after the match that it could be a match against Manchester City on the weekend that was his last chance to face Pep Guardiola's side at Anfield.

However, Arne Slot distorts that Salah's statement is not related to his future at Liverpool, but about Manchester City's status in the indictment.

"Maybe Mo knows more about 115 charges so he hopes they won't be in the Premier League next season."

"The boring answer is always the same. This is not a place for me to talk about Mo's contract. It's a joke. I repeat, it's a joke," Slot said at a press conference.

Meanwhile, The Citizens categorically denied all these allegations and claimed in a statement that they had undisputed evidence to support and hoped the matter would end soon.

The indictment is related to the 14 season period which started in 2009/2010.

This includes 54 allegations of not providing accurate information, 14 allegations of not providing accurate details for player and manager payments, seven charges of violating Premier League profit and sustainability, five charges of not complying with UEFA regulations, including Financial Fair Play, and 35 charges of not cooperating with Premier League investigations since 2018 and beyond.

Apart from that, Liverpool are still comfortable at the top of the 2024/2025 Premier League standings with 35 points after playing the 3-3 series against Newcastle United on Thursday, December 5, 2024, early morning WIB.

Manchester City were able to cut the gap after winning for the first time in eight matches when they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 on the same day.

Guardiola's team are now temporarily up to fourth place with a collection of 26 points or a difference of nine points from Liverpool.

However, Arne Slot played down talks about his winning favorite team, insisting that there was still a long way to go until the end of the season.

"It's not special for us to be at the top of the Premier League or Champions League."

"This club, this team, players are used to being at the top of the league and competing for every trophy."

"They have experienced it. They also know that it's been a long season. To win the league against teams like Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, you have to be at the top of the game for 10 months."

"I see the three of them as our main competitors. We have seen the quality of the three and know that we must remain at the top of our game," said Arne Slot.