ELLAND ROAD, LEEDS — Mohamed Salah claimed he could leave Liverpool next month and accused the Premier League champions of "throwing me under the bus" in an astonishing broadside after Saturday's dramatic 3-3 draw at Leeds United.
Arne Slot's side twice threw away leads at a raucous Elland Road after Hugo Ekitike's brace early in the second half made it 2-0 and Dominik Szoboszlai scored 10 minutes from time to give the Reds a 3-2 advantage.
But Ao Tanaka scored in the 95th minute as Liverpool conceded from a Premier League set-piece for the 10th time this season. Following the match, Slot pored over such fallibilities and singled out accident-prone centre-back Ibrahima Konate as being "too much on the crime scene" this season, following his needless penalty concession that handed Leeds their initial lifeline.
Such comments would usually become the focal point of post-match headlines, but in the small corridor adjacent to the Elland Road media room where Slot spoke, his jilted star forward Salah — an unused substitute in West Yorkshire — one-upped Slot's post mortem, throwing a bomb into a Liverpool season that has been in a rolling state of implosion for some time.
Just as in the 2-0 victory at West Ham last weekend and the 1-1 midweek draw against Sunderland at Anfield, Szoboszlai started in Salah's customary position on the right-hand side of the attack. This has led to a more balanced team, with room for £116 million signing Florian Wirtz to operate in his favourite attacking midfield role without shackling Szoboszlai, who has undoubtedly been Liverpool's best player this season.
However, it has left Liverpool's best player of the past decade and one of the greatest in their history utterly enraged and threatening to walk away.
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What did Mo Salah say about Liverpool 'throwing him under the bus'?
"[I couldn't believe] that I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes," Salah said in a sensational seven-minute interview with reporters that seemingly criticized every aspect of Salah's current status in Merseyside. "I'm very disappointed. I have done so much for this club, everybody can see that through the years, especially last season.
"Sitting on the bench, I don't know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus, that's how I feel it. I think it's very clear that someone wants me to get all the blame.
"The club promised me in the summer a lot of promises and now I'm on the bench for three games, so I can't say that they kept their promises."
Broad criticism of unnamed figures in the club hierarchy did not mean Slot escaped Salah's ire, with the 33-year-old alleging a breakdown in the relationship between himself and the Dutch tactician.
What did Mo Salah say about Arne Slot?
"Before I had a good relationship with the manager and, all of a sudden, we don't have any relationship, I don't know why," Salah said. "It seems to me that someone doesn't want me in the club.
"It's not acceptable for me, to be fair. I don't get it. I think if I was somewhere else the club would protect its player. I don't know why I'm in this situation now. But how I see it now is you throw Mo under the bus because he's the problem in the team now. But I don't think I'm the problem. I have done so much for this club for the respect I want to get.
"I don't have to go every day fighting for my position because I earn it. People will say, 'Oh, you're not bigger…' I'm not bigger than anyone [but] I earned my position. This is football."
Slot could make a reasonable case that five goals and three assists in 19 appearances across all competitions this season are more relevant numbers upon which to judge the merits of selecting Salah than the 34 goals and 23 assists he racked up during last season's days of plenty.
Is Mo Salah leaving Liverpool?
Salah made a direct threat to leave Liverpool as part of his comments, indicating that he may be playing his last match in Red soon and could be sold in January once the Africa Cup of Nations is concluded.
It is not the first time that Salah has gone out of his way to speak to mixed zone reporters and seize control of the narrative. In November last year, he claimed he was "more out than in" at Liverpool amid fraught contract negotiations. Ultimately, Salah won through with a bumper deal until summer 2027 as he and Slot enjoyed a procession to Premier League glory.
This feels very different, with Liverpool eighth in the table and 10 points behind leaders Arsenal after 15 games. But Salah clearly feels the time for diplomacy has passed and heavily hinted next weekend's match against Brighton at Anfield could be his last for the club as he prepares to depart for Egypt's AFCON campaign in Morocco.
"This club, I will always support it, my kids will always support it," he said. "I love the club so much and I always will do. I called my mum yesterday and told them to come to the Brighton game. It doesn't matter if I play or not, I'm going to enjoy it.
"We'll see what's going to happen. In my head, I'm going to enjoy that game if I play or not, if I'm on the bench or not. I don't know what's going to happen now.
"That's going to be at Anfield, say 'goodbye' to the fans, go the Africa Cup. I don't know what will happen when I'm there."
Salah added: "In football you never know, but I don't accept the situation. Again, I've done so much for this club."