Can Liverpool and Mo Salah make peace after that outburst?

Has Mohamed Salah’s relationship of nearly a decade with reigning English champions Liverpool reached a dead end? It certainly seems so, judging by the explosive tone of his mixed-zone interview with journalists last week.

In the aftermath of Liverpool dropping two precious points from a winning position when they drew 3-3 with Leeds United, Salah spoke with the media and made a number of utterances that have shaken not just Liverpool, but the entire global soccer community.

Salah said he could not believe that he was benched for the full duration of the Leeds stalemate, which the Reds were leading 2-0 at one point before the demons that have tripped them up so far this season re-emerged. Clearly, the 33-year-old thought he could have made a difference in that match, just as he has done on numerous occasions since moving to Merseyside from Roma in 2017.

But that was his third successive match starting on the bench. Clearly it was one too many for the reigning Premier League Player of the Season. It’s something he is not accustomed to.

“The third time on the bench, for the first time in my career. I’m very, very disappointed ... I have done so much for this club over the years and especially last season,” Salah said.

“Now I’m sitting on the bench and I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That is how I am feeling. It is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.”

Despite his age, Salah remains in optimum physical condition. His output has him firmly perched among the best players in the world, although this has been impacted by Liverpool’s torrid form this season.

Losing his close friend Diogo Jota, who died in a car accident in July, has likely not made matters any simpler for Salah. But he still has five goals and three assists in 19 appearances so far in the 2025/26 season.

Just last season he was directly involved in 47 Premier League goals (29 goals and 18 assists) as he propelled Liverpool to just their second league title since 1992. He has scored well over 200 goals and provided more than 100 assists during his time in red.

Hence Salah is confused about being benched. He hinted that his achievements with Liverpool mean he should be one of the first names on the team sheet, saying: “I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position, because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone, but I earned my position.”

The Egyptian’s words point to someone who feels he has been made the scapegoat for Liverpool’s failures so far in this season, in what was supposed to be one of his swansong seasons after he signed a fresh two-year contract in April.

Broken promises

In Arne Slot’s maiden season at the helm of Liverpool, the Reds cantered to Premier League success. The Dutchman had inherited a good but unlucky team from his predecessor, Jürgen Klopp. Under Slot the pieces all fell into place perfectly and the Reds were unstoppable in the league, although they toiled in knockout competitions.

Nevertheless, Salah’s contributions were central to the team’s overall success. His goals and assists were equally important when the Reds claimed a maiden Premier League title in 2020 – as they were when the club won a sixth European Champions League title in 2019. Both came under the tutelage of Klopp. Interestingly, Salah is Liverpool’s all-time top scorer in the competition, with more than 40 strikes to his name.

Hence the club bosses eventually succumbed to pressure and handed
him that two-year contract earlier this year, after his infamous “I’m more in than out” interview.

Salah says Liverpool’s hierarchy promised him a number of things. “I got a lot of promises in the summer and so far I am on the bench for three games. So, I can’t say they have kept their promises.”

His frustration is natural. For the longest time he was Liverpool’s linchpin, the main man. In fact, during his time at Liverpool he has not scored fewer than 20 goals across all competitions in a single season.

In his debut season with the Merseyside club, the right-winger managed to score a mammoth 32 Premier League goals in 36 matches. Not a shabby return for someone who “flopped” at Chelsea after joining from Basel in 2014.

Now, as Slot struggles to carefully craft his own Liverpool to shake off Klopp’s shadow, Salah is suddenly not so invincible. He is expendable, a remnant of past times. Since he arrived at Liverpool, he has never been in such a position. Even when Slot arrived last season, Salah was the main character.

“I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager. All of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me that someone doesn’t want me in the club.

“It is not acceptable for me. I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. If this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player,” he lamented.

“How I see it now is like you’re throwing Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now. But I don’t think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club.”

No way back?

Prior to Salah’s outburst, he had come in for some criticism from some Liverpool legends, particularly Jamie Carragher. The former defender accused him of not showing face in the media as a senior squad member amid Liverpool’s woeful form this season. He said it was the Reds’ skipper, Virgil van Dijk, always fielding the tough questions, and accused Salah of only being vocal in public when it benefited him.

As a consequence of Salah airing his grievances via the media, he was dropped from the travelling squad for Liverpool’s Champions League encounter with Inter Milan this week. Liverpool won the match 1-0, starting with expensive off-season signings Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekithike as dual forwards.

“I think tonight it should be all about a team, against a team like this who are winning and a stadium [like] this. The focus should be on that,” Slot said after the match at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.

Quizzed by former Dutch star Clarence Seedorf, now doing media duties at the stadium, about whether Salah should be forgiven for a “mistake”, Slot was firm. “You say everyone makes mistakes in life, so the first thing should be, does the player think he has made a mistake as well?” Slot replied. “The next question is, should the initiative come from me or from him? That’s another question to answer.”

Salah’s future is up in the air and he may not return to Merseyside after representing Egypt at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

As for Slot, he said he was surprised by the attacker’s utterances about their broken relationship, especially considering the turmoil the club finds itself in.

“That’s not a good thing for us as a team. That is where mostly my thoughts go, not towards me. Granted, because I’m the manager and I have to pick a team, to a certain extent I’m important in this situation as well. But the focus that I have at the moment is completely on the team and not on me at all,” Slot said.

Evidently, the Dutchman was caught off-guard by Salah’s comments. The question now is how much damage has Salah done to his relationship with the manager, the club and the fans? DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.