Mohamed Salah has voiced deep frustration with his situation at Liverpool, saying he feels the club has “thrown [him] under the bus” and that his relationship with head coach Arne Slot has collapsed.
Salah was an unused substitute in the 3-3 draw at Leeds United, his third consecutive match starting on the bench, and he delivered an extraordinary post match interview in which he said he believed he had been made a scapegoat.
“I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame,” Salah told reporters. “I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we do not have any relationship. I do not know why but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone does not want me in the club.”
He added, “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.”
Despite his frustration, Salah insisted his affection for Liverpool remains intact. “This club, I will always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I always will,” he said. “It is not acceptable to me, to be fair. I do not get it. It is like I am being thrown more under the bus. I do not think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club.”
Salah, who will join Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations on 15 December, also admitted he is unsure about his future, even after signing a two year extension in April. “I do not 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 is football. It is what it is.”
Slot offered a different explanation for leaving Salah on the bench at Elland Road. Speaking before the interview aired, he told Sky Sports, “It was more about controlling the game at 3-2 and we did not need a goal. Normally when you need a goal, like last week against Sunderland, I brought Mo on.”
The Liverpool head coach also defended the forward’s stature the day before the match. “The chatter, yes, because he deserves that, he has been so influential for me and for six or seven years. It is completely normal people talk about it when he is not playing,” Slot said.
Salah, who has scored 250 goals in 420 Liverpool appearances and sits third on the club’s all time scoring list behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt, has struggled to reproduce last season’s form. He scored 29 Premier League goals in Slot’s title winning first campaign, but has managed only four in 13 league matches this season.
Interest from the Saudi Pro League remains strong, with Al Hilal among the clubs monitoring his situation, and Liverpool are understood to be open minded about his long term future. Salah’s most recent start came in the 4-1 Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven on 26 November.
