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 star 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 somebody wants me to take all the blame.
“I’ve said a few times before that I have a good relationship with the manager and now all of a sudden we have no relationship. I don’t know why.
“It seems like the club are throwing me under the bus – that’s how I feel.
“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 fight every day for my position because I earn it. I earned my position.”
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.
Sources have told BBC Sport that the Saudi Pro League remains interested in Salah, who signed a new two-year Liverpool contract in April. They have indicated that Al-Hilal, managed by Simone Inzaghi, are among the teams keen on Salah.
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 at Elland Road.
“It was more about controlling the game [at 3-2] and we didn’t need a goal,” said Slot. “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.