With Mohamed Salah stating he has been “thrown under a bus”, some Liverpool fans fear this may be a hint to a farewell in the January transfer window.
After being named on the bench for three games against West Ham, Sunderland and Leeds, the Egyptian felt the need to speak to reporters in the mixed zone at Elland Road last week expressing his displeasure at his current situation.
He has not been benched without reason. Salah’s lack of defensive desire had coincided with the team conceding 10 goals in three games prior to him being dropped.
In addition, the Egyptian has also only found the back of the net five times, and assisted three times in 19 matches this season, which is some way below his usual consistently high standards.
With 250 goals in 420 appearances, Liverpool will want to try and keep their star man, but if no resolution can be found then Arne Slot and the boardroom will have no choice but to sell him.
Ste Hoare of Redmen TV said: “I’d like to hope there would be a resolution where you can get this changed and fixed, but once you come out with some pretty inflammatory statements and accusations like that, it’s going to be really tough for bridges to be built again.”
Senior LFC Reporter at Reach PLC Matt Addison said: “Was it the right thing for him to come into the mixed zone? Absolutely not, it was pretty selfish from his perspective.
“The biggest thing I disagree with was the bit about what he’s done for the last seven/eight seasons for Liverpool and that he doesn’t have to justify his place in the team.”
Salah heads off to the Africa Cup of Nations on December 15, making Saturday’s fixture against Brighton potentially the last opportunity for the home crowd to say their goodbyes to the forward.
The Egyptian signed a new contract after his 24/25 campaign where he netted 34 times and achieved 23 assists in just 52 games.
This new deal would keep him at the club until 2027 but now it is unsure to whether he’ll see it through.
These doubts about Salah seeing through the full length of his contract come after him telling his family to attend this weekend’s fixture at Anfield, adding: “In my head, I’m going to enjoy that game because I don’t know what is going to happen now.”
Currently third on Liverpool’s all-time scorers (behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt), Salah made his most recent appearance in the Champions League against PSV at Anfield in an emphatic 4-1 defeat.
Thanks to his success individually and as a team over the last eight years, there are many Liverpool fans defending the 33-year-old, but there are also others including Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher who believe he shouldn’t be speaking negatively about the manager in public.
Slot has confirmed prior to the Brighton fixture that talks will be held today which will determine the Egyptian’s availability tomorrow at Anfield.
Can the Dutch manager and the directors at Liverpool convince Salah to stay despite his concerns about his playing time? Or will Saudi Arabia come calling in January and take the Egyptian?
