Mohamed Salah has returned to Liverpool after the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) duty with Egypt and will be assessed before the squad fly to Marseille for tonight’s Champions League match.

Press Association understands the forward is back on Merseyside a month after he departed with his future seemingly in doubt after becoming embroiled in a dispute with head coach Arne Slot.

After being left out of the side for three matches, he conducted an explosive interview after the chaotic draw at Leeds in which he accused the club of throwing him “under the bus” after results took a dive.

He also suggested he had no relationship with Slot and questioned whether he would remain at the club – comments which resulted in him being left out of the squad which travelled to Inter Milan in the Champions League.

Salah returned to the squad for the home game against Brighton and was an early first-half substitute for Joe Gomez, but he left for Morocco with his future still under a cloud.

Close friend Dominik Szoboszlai was in daily contact with Salah while he was away, but declined to offer any insight into the forward’s mindset.

“We speak about everything (but) that’s between me and him. He will come back and then we just keep on going. He will be here and it’s the decision of the manager and the club. It is not about us, it is about him,” the midfielder said. 

Szoboszlai is determined to put the worst week of his Liverpool career behind him as the Champions League returns with a top-eight place at stake.

The Hungary captain hit the crossbar with a first-half penalty in Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Burnley, five days after he gifted Barnsley a goal with a backheel in his own six-yard box.

Szoboszlai still has a lot of credit in the bank – he began the FA Cup win over the Tykes with a brilliant 35-yard strike – as the team’s best player this season, but he is determined to rediscover his high standards. -Nampa/AFP