Mohamed Salah will be looking to make headlines back on the pitch during the Africa Cup of Nations following his recent clash with Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Mohamed Salah has certainly set tongues wagging on social media this season, with the Liverpool star being noticeably more active in the aftermath of his explosive comments against Arne Slot and the club. The Egyptian made headlines after stopping in the mixed zone following the Reds’ 3-3 draw with Leeds United as he claimed he had been ‘thrown under the bus’ and that his relationship with his head coach had completely broken down.
He was subsequently left out of the Liverpool travelling squad for their Champions League trip to Inter Milan following his comments.
On the morning of the game, Salah would post a picture of himself working alone in the gym at the AXA Training Centre across his social media channels.
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The following day, he shared a picture from the park, with it later transpiring he had met with former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson in London.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, he would upload another picture of himself in the gym as the uncertainty around his Reds future continued, having also suggested at Leeds that the upcoming fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion could prove to be his last for the club.
Salah was at least recalled to the Liverpool squad for the clash with the Seagulls following amicable talks with Slot on Friday. And while he started the game on the bench, he made a telling contribution after being brought on as a substitute midway through the first half, setting up the Reds’ second goal in a lively performance as they ran out 2-0 victors.
Following the win, Slot would insist he considers the matter resolved following the row with one of his star players.
But with the 33-year-old now away on Africa Cup of Nations duty until the New Year, the uncertainty around his future continues.
Slot would dismiss suggestions that Salah had played his last game for the club against Brighton as he played down the forward doing a lap around Anfield following the final whistle, applauding all four corners of the stadium while looking visibly moved before he was the final player to leave the pitch.
“I think he wasn’t the only player who walked around the pitch, thanking the fans because I think our fans deserved a thank you from us,” Slot said. “I think our players worked incredibly hard today to keep a clean sheet.
“Mo is going to go to AFCON now. I hope he is going to do very well and in the meantime we have to play here without him, with not that many players available at the moment.
“He is a Liverpool player and the moment he is there, I like to use him when we need him.”
The ECHO would report that Salah’s actions appeared more in appreciation to supporters than a final farewell. But that will not stop the uncertainty with the forward now away on international duty and the January transfer window looming.
Salah would share the Premier League’s footage of the reception he received following the final whistle at Anfield across his social media platforms on Saturday night.
And having broken the record for the most goal contributions for a single Premier League club with his assist against Brighton, he would also offer a reminder of such a fact on his channels when sharing a graphic of his latest record on Monday afternoon.
Former team-mates Trent Alexander-Arnold and Henderson would respond with goat (greatest of all-time) and crown emojis respectively on Instagram, while Dejan Lovren set tongues wagging himself when commenting on X and Instagram.
“Not good enough Mo. You need to cover your full back,” he wrote. “Some pundits will get sick looking at this.”
Given that Salah’s defensive output has been a frequent talking point among a number of outspoken pundits this season, you do not have to think very hard to work out who or what Lovren is referring to.
Such criticism has perhaps hit a nerve with Salah this season, though, with the Egyptian also referencing Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher when speaking in the Leeds United mixed zone.
“I have done so much for this club,” he admitted after being left unused at Elland Road and benched for a third game in a row. “I am sorry, I love Erling Haaland, I love him.
“But I am the current top scorer in the Premier League (most recent Golden Boot winner). I won the league in style.
“Absolutely, it hurts me. What I have done, it hurts. I know the club well, I have been here for many years. Tomorrow, Jamie Carragher is going to criticise me but that’s fine.”
Earlier in the season, it did not go unnoticed when he removed references of Liverpool from his social media accounts after being benched for the Reds’ 5-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. He would come in for criticism after being introduced for going it alone in front of goal rather than gifting Florian Wirtz a tap-in.
Following the game, Salah removed any reference of Liverpool from his X bio, after it had previously read ‘Footballer for Liverpool FC’.
He also changed both his profile picture and header image on the social media platform.
Salah’s profile picture was previously himself holding the Premier League trophy from Liverpool’s 2025/26 home kit launch last summer. Meanwhile, his header image had been him holding aloft the silverware on the Reds’ open top bus parade back in May following their title triumph.
Salah’s latest record is incredible and he has every right to celebrate it. But by sharing the aforementioned graphic highlighting his achievements for Liverpool across all of his social media channels, it is also a telling reminder of his talents at a time when he has been written off and found his starting place at threat for the first time in his Reds career – and just before departing for the Africa Cup of Nations too.
Of course, Liverpool’s Egyptian King could never be out of sight, out of mind.
But after a fortnight where his game-time has been limited and he has been left to do more talking off the pitch than on it, he will inevitably wish to get back to letting his feet do the talking when captaining Egypt at AFCON.
A number of his Reds team-mates have also been left to field questions about the forward’s comments and his future with the club over the past two weeks too.
Alisson Becker was first up when handed pre-match press conference duties ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Inter Milanwith Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai then speaking in the mixed zone after the match.
Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson would also speak following the final whistle as they made it clear in televised interviews that they wished Salah to stay put at Anfield.
After beating Brighton, Van Dijk would reiterate such a stance as he revealed that he had told Salah he wishes him to stay put at Liverpoolwhile conceding he does not know what will happen in January.
Ibrahima Konate would share his belief that his team-mate will not leave the club when the transfer window re-openswhile Jones revealed that Salah had made it clear that his comments at Elland Road were not against any individual team-mate.
Meanwhile, Robertson would take to social media himself to then make his own stance regarding Salah’s return to the side clear, as he shared a picture of the two celebrating on his Instagram story, tagging his long-serving team-mate, along with hands raised in celebration and heart emojis.
Meanwhile, having been Liverpool’s two-goal match-winning hero against Brighton, Hugo Ekitike was also asked about Salah as he made it crystal clear how much he enjoys playing alongside his fellow forward.
“Mohamed is a great, great professional,” he said. “I look to him as an example. You can see how much he is involved in goals and assists.
“He is a legend here. To share the pitch is a blessing. That’s the kind of player who makes us like to watch football.
“He gave me a great ball, I just had to be in a good place. It was easy to finish. I was looking for the hat-trick but it is going to be another time. It was good, two goals. We try to stick together and work together.”
Evidently, regardless of what has gone on between Salah and Slot, the Liverpool dressing room very much want their team-mate to stay put.
And Ekitike is actually a fan of Salah’s social media posts too, confirming as much in the club’s ‘A Day With’ feature, which was admittedly filmed last month, prior to the forward’s falling out with Slot, before release on Tuesday.
“Do you know what? I like Mo Salah’s posts,” he told Rubi Deschamps. “(They’re) not in terms of fashion, you know? It’s not fashion.
“His posts are very like, he takes picture with his phone from everything and he posts it. I find it really cool. He just don’t care.”
In contrast, the past two weeks would suggest the opposite. With every post seemingly well thought out with a deliberate, sometimes pointed, meaning, Salah cares very much.
But having now departed for Africa Cup of Nations duty with another record under his belt, both player and club will be left hoping for more of the same, with his feats on the pitch making more headlines than actions off it, when Salah returns to Liverpool in 2026.
