Mohamed Salah caused an almighty stir at the weekend by blasting Liverpool manager Arne Slot – and it looks like FSG have picked a side in the battle
Arne Slot has the full backing of the Liverpool hierarchy despite Mohamed Salah’s explosive recent comments. On Saturday, the Egyptian forward sent shockwaves through Anfield by claiming he no longer has a relationship with his manager, who has left him out of the starting XI for three consecutive matches.
Salah went further, alleging he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club and that assurances made when he signed his contract extension in April had not been honoured. The incendiary remarks cranked up the pressure on Slot, who’s already feeling the heat following a dismal run of form in which Liverpool have lost nine of their last 15 games in all competitions.
Even so, Slot’s job is not believed to be in immediate jeopardy. According to The Athleticinsiders insist it would be “unthinkable” for Liverpool to dismiss a manager simply because a player publicly challenged a selection decision.
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If anything, the episode appears to have backfired on Salah, whose Anfield future is now hanging by a thread. Some within the club view the interview as a deliberate attempt to undermine the manager. But Liverpool’s owners, FSG, are refusing to be drawn into a power struggle and remain committed to giving Slot the time and authority to steer the team back on course.
Salah’s outburst didn’t come entirely out of the blue. But while many inside the club were aware of his frustration at being left out, few expected him to go as far as he did.
Several team-mates had anticipated some sort of reaction after noticing a clear shift in Salah’s mood on Friday, once he learned he would again start on the bench against Leeds on Saturday. The 33-year-old was forced to watch from the sidelines as Liverpool surrendered a 2-0 lead and drew 3-3 at Elland Road.
It marked the second time in a week that Salah had been an unused sub, having also sat out Liverpool’s 2-0 win over West Ham at the end of last month. He did come off the bench in the midweek draw with Sunderland but struggled to influence the game.
Slot’s decision to drop Salah – a near-automatic starter on the right flank for the best part of a decade – was always going to turn heads. However, those who have stepped in, Dominic Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo, have both found the net recently.
Salah’s form this season has been underwhelming. He has scored just five goals in 19 appearances in all competitions and has looked a shadow of the player who struck 34 times last season.
His decline began toward the end of the 2024/25 campaign. Since signing his contract extension, Salah has scored only seven goals in 30 matches, prompting questions over whether he has taken his foot off the gas since committing his future to the club.
But for all his struggles with form, there was no suggestion of any cracks in his relationship with Slot as he started the opening 12 league matches of this season. Things only changed when he was dropped at West Ham nine days ago.
His mood worsened when he wasn’t recalled to the starting line-up against Sunderland – but it was being kept on the bench throughout Saturday’s clash with Leeds that made him snap.
After the game, Salah vented his frustration. “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. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame,” he said.
“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 keep the promise. I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden, we don’t have any relationship. I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.”
He went on to suggest that he was too important a player to be expected to earn his place in the team. “It is not acceptable for me. I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player,” he said.
“How I see it now is like you throw 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. The respect, I want to get. 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. It’s football. It is what it is.”
A January exit – whether permanent or on loan – now appears increasingly plausible. Salah has long been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League and although his contract extension earlier this year seemed to quiet those rumours, interest from the Middle East is expected to intensify in light of his recent remarks.
Even so, Liverpool are understood to view Salah’s absence from the starting line-up as a temporary situation. If relations between the player, Slot and the club can be repaired, there’s no reason why he can’t stay on Merseyside and see out his contract as initially planned.
