Salah says he has been ‘thrown under the bus’ by Liverpool

Mohamed Salah says he feels like he has been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and that his relationship with head coach Arne Slot has broken down.

Salah was an unused substitute in Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Leeds United – the third straight game the Egypt forward has started on the bench.

After the game, the scorer of 250 goals in 420 Liverpool appearances said in an extraordinary interview with journalists: “I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame.

“I said many times before that I had a good relationship with the manager, and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship.

“I don’t know why but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club.

“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.

“This club, I will always support it. My kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I always will.

“It [the situation] is not acceptable to me, to be fair. I don’t get it. It’s like I’m being thrown more under the bus. I don’t think I’m the problem. I have done so much for this club.

“I don’t 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’s football. It is what it is.”

Salah, who is going to the Africa Cup of Nations on 15 December, added that he was unsure about his Liverpool future, despite signing a new two-year contract in April.

Salah, 33, scored 29 times in the 2024-25 Premier League as the Reds won the title in Slot’s first season in charge.

However, he has struggled for form since as Liverpool have been unable to match the heights of last term.

Salah, who was brought to the club from Roma by Jurgen Klopp in 2017, has scored just four times in 13 top-flight appearances this season.

The Saudi Pro League has for a long time held ambitions to add Salah – arguably the most recognisable Middle Eastern player on the planet – to a roster of global superstars that includes the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane.

Sources have indicated that Al-Hilal, managed by Simone Inzaghi, are among the teams interested in Salah.

BBC Sport has been told that Liverpool are open-minded about Salah’s future amid the Saudi interest.

After the Leeds game – when Liverpool led 2-0 and then 3-2 before conceding a 96th-minute equaliser – Liverpool boss Arne Slot told Sky Sports why he did not use Salah off the bench at Elland Road.

“It was more about controlling the game [at 3-2] and we didn’t need a goal,” said Slot before Salah’s interview. “Normally when you need a goal, like last week against Sunderland, I brought Mo on.”

Speaking at his pre-match news conference on Friday, Slot said he understood the talk surrounding Salah after being dropped from the team.

“The chatter, yes, because he deserves that, he has been so influential for me and [for] six or seven years. It’s completely normal people talk about it when he isn’t playing,” added Slot.

Salah, third on Liverpool’s all-time list of scorers behind Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285), made his most recent start in the 4-1 Champions League home defeat by PSV Eindhoven on 26 November.

By BBC Sports