With Liverpool already in crisis after suffering nine defeats from their past 15 games in all competitions, star forward Mohamed Salah fanned the flames by taking aim at the club for "throwing him under the bus."
Salah started the first 12 Premier League games but, after netting just four goals and two assists, he was dropped to the bench for the third consecutive game against Leeds United on Saturday night and made a beeline for reporters in the mixed zone following his team's 3-3 draw at Elland Road.
"Someone wants me to get all the blame," he said. "[The] club promised me a lot in summer. Now I'm on bench so can say they haven't kept those promises. I used to have a good relationship [with Arne Slot]. Now we don't have any relationship and I don't know why. [It] seems like someone does not want me in the club."
It was an extraordinary outburst from a player who has spoken to the written media only four times in his 8½ years on Merseyside. That Salah chose to speak out so candidly suggests he feels his Liverpool future is balanced on a cliff edge. So where does he go from here? And, now he's been omitted from the squad for the foreseeable future, could his stellar Anfield career soon be drawing to a close?
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Why has Salah lashed out at Liverpool?
It was only a few months ago that Salah was beaming as he collected the award for PFA Players' Player of the Year after scoring 29 goals in Liverpool's Premier League title-winning campaign last season. That the Egypt international is the first player in history to have won the accolade on three separate occasions is reflective of his enduring brilliance since joining Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017. After scoring 250 goals in 420 appearances for the club, he clearly feels he is now not being given the respect he deserves by manager Arne Slot and the Anfield hierarchy.
After starting all of Liverpool's first 12 league games this term, Slot opted to drop the club's longtime talisman for last weekend's clash with West Ham United, which the Reds won 2-0. With that bold selection call seemingly vindicated, the Liverpool boss also started Salah on the bench against both Sunderland (1-1) and Leeds (3-3), though he was introduced at halftime against the former.
"It's not acceptable to me, to be fair," Salah continued. "If I was somewhere else, every club would protect its players. Now, it's 'Throw Mo under the bus because he is a problem in a team.' I don't think I am a problem. I am not fighting for my position every day because I have earned it. I am not bigger than the club. I am not bigger than anything. But I have earned it."
While Salah's form has undeniably dipped this season -- with his four goals from his first 15 league games paling in comparison to the 13 he scored at the same stage last year -- it is clear the 33-year-old feels he is being unfairly scapegoated for Liverpool's torrid run of form.
Yet sources told ESPN's Mark Ogden that Salah is regarded by some staff as "aloof" and somebody who has always had an aura of being "special." Indeed, some inside Anfield weren't surprised that he spoke out. One source added Salah wasn't due to speak to the media after the Leeds game, but that they could tell he was going to say something and was chaperoned by a media officer just in case.
Why did Liverpool offer him a new contract in the summer?
Last season, Salah was one of three Liverpool players coming to the end of his contract, with captain Virgil van Dijk's and defender Trent Alexander-Arnold's deals set to expire in the summer of 2025.
The fact that the trio -- all of whom have been integral to Liverpool's success over the past decade -- had not signed new contracts earlier led to an intense media spotlight, which only intensified when Salah told reporters in November 2024 he was "more out than in" at the club after a year of gossip over a lucrative move to the Saudi Pro League (SPL), which had seen Liverpool reject a £150 million bid from Al Ittihad in the summer of 2023.
In spite of the media circus surrounding the saga, sources told ESPN that positive discussions over a contract extension were ongoing for several months, with Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes overseeing negotiations with Salah's agent, Ramy Abbas Issa.
A source told ESPN that both Liverpool and Salah had always been convinced of a mutual desire to continue their partnership, with the player and his young family settled and happy in the northwest of England. That Liverpool committed to maintaining his status as the highest-paid player in the club's history -- he earns in the region of £400,000 per week, plus performance-related bonuses -- even in light of his age (32 at the time) seemed to reflect the high esteem in which he continued to be held by the club's hierarchy.
However, with homegrown talent Alexander-Arnold leaving for Real Madrid this summer, there is also a school of thought that Liverpool could not, from a PR perspective, allow a player of Salah's stature to depart on a free transfer.
Committing big money to a player entering the twilight of his career is out of keeping with the club's usual data-driven policy, and Salah's comments appeared to suggest he feels the club are eager to facilitate his exit in the near future.
Nedum Onuoha and Julien Laurens talk about what they believe Mohamed Salah's next move might be following his recent remarks about not featuring in the last few matches.
Would Liverpool let him leave in January?
Letting Salah depart midway through the season would have felt inconceivable even as recently as a few weeks ago. But, if no resolution can be reached between him and his head coach, Liverpool could be left with no other option but to listen to offers for the forward, who hinted on Saturday that next weekend's clash with Brighton & Hove Albion could be his last in a Liverpool shirt.
Salah has played 1,119 league minutes out of a possible 1,350 so far, but is clearly not content with playing a supporting role this term and, even if the pressure on Slot's own future continues to mount in the coming weeks, it is unlikely that the club will side with a player who could potentially hold any future manager to ransom if he is not given the playing time he feels he deserves.
A source added that the club is aware that fans might be upset with Salah due to his comments "not being the Liverpool way." However, there is also an acceptance that cutting him adrift and criticizing him publicly is also not the way to go, so there is a determination to do things in a calm and balanced way.
Overall though, the feeling within the club is that Salah has made it extremely difficult for Slot to select him in the team right now.
Where could he go and how would Liverpool replace him?
The obvious answer to this is the Saudi Pro League, with Al Ittihad and Al Hilal being named in many media reports as clubs who are monitoring the situation.
The SPL would likely be willing to hand Salah similar wages in order to secure his services, however it remains to be seen whether he is ready to walk away from European football at a time when he clearly feels he still has so much to give. If he wishes to prove the point that he has been prematurely written off at Liverpool, he will know that a move to Saudi Arabia will have the opposite effect, though there are few other clubs in world football that could afford to pay his wages.
Sources told ESPN's Julien Laurens that Salah's agent has called a number of Serie A clubs, as that is the only big European league that would take him due to his age and salary expectations, while a separate source added that Paris Saint-Germain, where he has been linked previously, would not be interested unless he was available on a free transfer.
What is clear is that Liverpool will have to start planning for life without the 33-year-old sooner rather than later.
While sourcing a like-for-like replacement is virtually impossible, Liverpool could look to address their lack of pace out wide by signing a winger who is capable of both scoring and delivering for summer signings Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike.
Sources told ESPN that Liverpool are one of the clubs that admires AFC Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo, who has scored six goals in the Premier League this season and is reported to have a release clause of around £60 million which activates in January. Sporting director Richard Hughes worked at Bournemouth when the 25-year-old signed from Bristol City in January 2023 and the Ghana international will also not be at the African Cup of Nations in the next few months, as the country didn't qualify, which makes him an attractive proposition.
Liverpool had also been linked with Real Madrid's Rodrygo and Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola in the summer, though the Reds downplayed their interest in both.
What does this mean for Arne Slot?
Slot's future at Liverpool is already uncertain, with Liverpool having won just four of their past 15 games in all competitions.
But sources told ESPN that he maintains the full backing of the club's hierarchy, while another said he is well-liked and treats everybody with respect. There is also sympathy for how he has been treated by Salah publicly because, according to one source, he is honest and straight with everybody.
Still, another source said that Liverpool's UEFA Champions League defeat to PSV Eindhoven last month was a "breaking-point moment" among some within the club, which, although not a loss that confirmed Slot's fate, was a result that raised concerns that had not previously surfaced during the poor results and performances going into that game.
Salah said he feels he has "no relationship" with Slot anymore. However, he reported to the club's AXA Training Centre on Sunday afternoon and underwent a light session before meeting senior figures such as Slot and Hughes.
On Monday, Salah was part of open training but will not travel to Italy ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League clash with Inter Milan as the club have temporarily removed him from selection
Liverpool are always likely to back their manager over a player, though how Slot handles this situation could have some bearing on how he is viewed by supporters at a time when there are already calls in some quarters for him to be dismissed.
ESPN's Mark Ogden and Julien Laurens contributed to this report