Mo Salah: AFCON departure leaves him and Liverpool in limbo
By Abhijan Barua
Credits - Liverpool Echo
With Liverpool's Mohamed Salah away on international duty with Egypt for the African Cup of Nations, recent questions mean his future at the club remains in limbo.
The cat’s been out of the bag for a while now since the 33-year-old forward’s “under the bus” interview following the 3-3 draw against Leeds United.
It was the third consecutive match where he was benched and the ‘Egyptian King’ made his disappointment public. World football reacted immediately.
Most former players-turned-pundits, especially the ones with a Liverpool past, felt he shouldn’t have aired his frustrations publicly.
Former Reds and England players Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher, as well as ex-Arsenal and French ace Thierry Henry, all said the same on different channels after Salah’s comments. That going public was crossing a line.
Whether his frustration itself of being on the bench was justified to begin with, is where their opinions varied. Some, such as another former Liverpool and England striker Daniel Sturridge, sympathised with his disappointment at not starting, but also felt he should have dealt with it privately.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot subsequently left Salah out of the squad for their 1-0 away win against Inter Milan in the Champions League. Speculation over the former AS Roma player intensified further.
Then after talks with Slot, he was back in the squad to face Brighton on Saturday, albeit on the bench again. The 2-0 home win saw him coming on as a first half substitute for an injured Joe Gomez and getting in the thick of it almost immediately, eventually assisting French striker Hugo Ekitike’s second goal.
Slot’s position on Salah after the Brighton result is that “there is no issue to resolve” after their private discussion and it is now the “same as any other player”. The Dutch manager said he would like the Egyptian back at the club after his hiatus to play for his country.
Reds skipper Virgil van Dijk also expects Salah – now the all-time highest Premier League goal contributor (goals and assists) for a single club - to return and help with their title defence.
Until he does, questions keep coming up on whether he will play for Liverpool again and if so, will it be just for the rest of this season? Will (perhaps even should) Liverpool cash in on any potential offers for a player approaching his mid-30s and on a contract that expires in 2027?
Sunday Supplement on Sky Sports saw football journalists such as Jacqui Oatley, Sam Dean and Jack Pitt-Brooke discussing that particular elephant in the room on whether it would make sense for Liverpool to sell an unhappy player if any official offers did come in, while they still can.
Former Premier League players Robbie Earle and Tim Howard also went back and forth on NBC Sports over how Salah may or may not remain at Liverpool beyond either the January transfer window or in the summer.
Will he... won’t he... or even should he still be playing for Liverpool post-AFCON?
With Salah away from Anfield, the Reds have a number of matches coming up where the results and his lack of availability will shape which questions get asked regarding his future.