Arne Slot has broken his silence on Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool exit.
Salah confirmed last week that he would call time on a nine-year stay at Anfield when the Premier League champions’ current season ends.
The Egypt international is set to receive a fond farewell from supporters after helping the Reds to eight major honours, including two Premier League titles.
In his first interview following the bombshell announcement, Slot paid tribute to the exploits of Liverpool’s outgoing No.11 during his time with the club.
“I knew [about the decision], so it wasn’t new news to me,” he told Liverpoolfc.com.
“But I think it was very good to hear and see all the reactions of his teammates, but also from everywhere around the world, for what he has done for this football club and for football in general.
“I’ve mainly seen this as a fan, so watching football, seeing him playing at Liverpool, doing all these special things that he’s done for this club.
“Of course, in the fixtures against [Manchester] City but in all the other fixtures as well. He broke record after record after record.
“Then I started working with him and already the first day I was impressed by his professionalism because as with any season, it starts with a test that shows how much they did in the off-season and he beat all of them.
“He was the fittest player that came back, and I think that’s the ideal situation that you want as a manager: that your star player comes back as fit as he did.
“He had nothing to prove, but for himself he had a lot to prove because Mo always thinks he has to prove something every three days. That hunger never stops and that is something that I find most special about him.
“So many good players around the world [and] he’s definitely one of them in the last 10 years, that everybody talks about being one of the best there is and was in the last 10 years.
“To show that hunger every three days, that professionalism, that commitment to the club, to the team, to wanting to score again, always wanting to play.
“When you take him out three minutes before the end, he’s like, ‘Maybe I could have scored one extra!’ – that is what stands out for me.
“Everything he’s done for the club, but the moment I started working with him I knew it after one day, let alone after a few weeks or months, that it isn’t a coincidence that he’s been so influential in the last 10 years in football.”