Mo Salah agreement reached as Liverpool star told there is no way back after outburst
Mohamed Salah poured petrol onto the fire when he decided to stop and unload in front of reporters at Elland Road on Saturday.
Salah wasn't keeping any prisoners after being left on the bench in the3-3 draw against Leeds. The Liverpool star said he now had “no relationship” with Arne Slot and felt he had been thrown under the bus and made a scapegoat for the team's poor form.
He said he didn't feel he had to earn his place in the starting XI, given his contributions to the club, and spent Sunday speaking to his agent about his future, with the January transfer window suddenly looming large. He trained with his team-mates on Monday ahead of a Champions League game against Inter Milan, but his future is now unclear.
Liverpool are said to be 'open-minded' about the prospect of selling the 33-year-old, who is under contract until June 2027, after signing a new deal earlier this year worth £350,000 per week. Saudi Arabian clubs remain interested in signing the Egypt star, who will soon head off to the Africa Cup of Nations, but is a transfer the best solution? Or can Slot bring the forward back into the fold?
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Jeremy CrossSalah has crossed a line from which there is no going back. He has challenged Arne Slot and Liverpool's authority. And he's done it for a reason. Because he wants to force a move out of Anfield.
Leaving Liverpool's American owners Fenway Sports Group with little choice, but to either sack Slot or sell Salah to the highest bidder. No one player is ever bigger than a club, and when someone like Salah is causing a toxic environment, he has to be gotten rid of as soon as possible.
Manchester United did the same with Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2022. It would provide a sad end to Salah's time at Anfield and taint his legacy, no doubt. But this is the fickle world of top level football.
Both parties will move on, because it's always about the future, never the present or the past.
There’s no doubt that Salah has burned a few bridges at Anfield. You can’t say the type of things he has and expect to be back in the side.
Of course, Salah was only expressing how he feels but to go against your own manager and employers like that, it’s not acceptable. He should be cut from the squad entirely ahead of the African Cup of Nations and even then, he should not be welcomed back with open arms until he’s apologised.
Should he be sold? No, I don’t think so. He’s still one of the best players in the Premier League - and given their troubles this season, Liverpool need him.
Besides, I don’t think they’ll be getting anywhere near the money that Al-Ittihad offered a few seasons ago. Holding onto Salah for the rest of the season and seeing where the land lies in the summer might be a better solution for everyone concerned.
Neil McLemanSalah has to go – and go now. His ego is now bigger than his value to the team. The Egyptian superstar showed his selfishness last season by only speaking to pressurise the Anfield club to give him a new contract during the title run-in.
He was silent earlier this season when he was playing and results plummeted as all the Liverpool players left captain Virgil van Dijk to attempt to explain away the catastrophic loss in form. And that includes Salah’s poor displays. He has lost a bit of pace and seemingly all his desire to work hard for his team – and now the respect of his team-mates and fans.
Liverpool have made big mistakes in the transfer market this year but giving Salah a new two-year contract in April seemed right at the time. His timing to go public at Elland Road – just days before his departure to the African Cup of Nations - was all wrong.
At the age of 33, he is ready for a Ronaldo-style semi-retirement in Saudi Arabia.
There should be no way back for Mohamed Salah at Liverpool. Nobody is saying he doesn't have a right to feel aggrieved, or to express those feelings, but he went too far with his comments, which have effectively laid siege on Arne Slot.
How can the Dutchman, realistically, crack on with business as usual and include Salah in the travelling party for the Inter game on Tuesday, or Brighton at the weekend? It's put everyone in a nightmare scenario and the timing couldn't be worse considering Liverpool are hardly firing on all cylinders right now.
Salah hasn't hit the heights of last season but I think it's probably unfair and premature to write him off considering the changes to the Liverpool team. There were always likely to be teething problems and I've got no doubt that Salah is still a class act. But there simply cannot be a way back for him after those comments.
It would be a really sorry way for Salah and Liverpool's story together to end, but if there's interest there from Saudi, then the Reds should cash in.
It took a brave person to say Liverpool should have moved on from Salah when the club were pondering the futures of the Egyptian, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold last season. He was coming to the end of a ludicrously productive season and the reaction to his two-year contract extension told the story: the fans were delighted.
It is just 241 days since Salah penned that deal and Liverpool should jump all over the opportunity he’s handed them. Salah’s words were provocative and the club should give him what he wants by accepting the highest bid from Saudi Arabia.
His entitlement is staggering and players – no matter how legendary – cannot be allowed to wield that much power. Cash out. Cut your losses. If I were in charge I’d say thanks for the good times, Mo, but you opened the door to a bitter exit and we’re pushing you through it.
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