Mohamed Salah has been absent from Liverpool’s starting XI for the club’s last three fixtures.
Mohamed Salah has voiced his feelings of being “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool, alleging a breakdown in his relationship with head coach Arne Slot.
Salah remained an unused substitute during Saturday’s 3-3 draw against Leeds United, marking the third consecutive match in which the Egyptian star began on the bench.
Following the game, Salah, who has scored 250 goals in 420 appearances for Liverpool, expressed his sentiments in an interview with journalists: “I think it is very clear that somebody wants me to take all the blame.”
“I’ve said a few times before that I have a good relationship with the manager and now all of a sudden we have no relationship. I don’t know why.”
“It seems like the club are throwing me under the bus – that’s how I feel.”
“This club, I will always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I always will.”
“It [the situation] is not acceptable to me, to be fair. I don’t get it. It’s like I’m being thrown more under the bus. I don’t think I’m the problem. I have done so much for this club. I don’t have to fight every day for my position because I earn it. I earned my position.”
Salah, 33, tallied 29 goals in the 2024-25 Premier League season, as the Reds secured the title during Slot’s inaugural campaign as manager.
However, his form has reportedly dipped since then, coinciding with Liverpool’s inability to replicate the success of the previous term.
Since joining the club from Roma in 2017 under Jurgen Klopp, Salah has found the net just four times in 13 top-flight appearances this season.
Sources have indicated to BBC Sport that Saudi Pro League clubs maintain an interest in Salah, who signed a two-year contract extension with Liverpool in April. Al-Hilal, managed by Simone Inzaghi, are reportedly among the teams monitoring Salah’s situation.
Following the Leeds match – which saw Liverpool relinquish a 2-0 lead, then a 3-2 advantage, before conceding a 96th-minute equalizer – Liverpool manager Arne Slot addressed his decision not to utilize Salah at Elland Road to Sky Sports.
“It was more about controlling the game [at 3-2] and we didn’t need a goal,” Slot stated. “Normally when you need a goal, like last week against Sunderland, I brought Mo on.”
Speaking at his pre-match news conference on Friday, Slot acknowledged the discourse surrounding Salah after his omission from the starting lineup.
“The chatter, yes, because he deserves that, he has been so influential for me and [for] six or seven years. It’s completely normal people talk about it when he isn’t playing,” Slot added.
Salah, who currently sits third on Liverpool’s all-time scoring chart behind Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285), last started in the 4-1 Champions League defeat at home to PSV Eindhoven on November 26.
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