Mohamed Salah's Liverpool future remains uncertain after his explosive criticism of manager Arne Slot late last year, as January deadline day arrives
Mohamed Salah's future at Liverpool continues to be a volatile topic following his bombshell confession towards the end of last year. The Egyptian attacker has now returned from the Africa Cup of Nations and is back amongst Arne Slot's squad.
The 33-year-old arrived at Anfield in 2017, having previously struggled to make his mark at Chelsea, though hardly anyone would have predicted the career he'd forge as a Red. Across almost a decade on Merseyside, he has climbed to become Liverpool's all-time leading Premier League goal-scorer and also holds that distinction in European competitions.
He has won virtually everything on offer with the club, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup. At the start of 2025, it appeared probable he would walk away from this legacy, with prior summer attention from the Saudi Pro League hovering and his contract approaching its end. But Salah signed a fresh two-year deal with the Reds in April.
When difficulties emerged during the current campaign towards the close of last year, Salah ended up on Slot's substitutes' bench. His departure re-entered the discussion following a heated post-match interview, and Salah's admission means his Liverpool future remains uncertain.
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Following a 3-3 stalemate with Leeds United, Salah made his way to the mixed zone to address journalists directly, which was an unusual move. Despite having put pen to paper on fresh terms just months earlier, he revealed his true, explosive feelings.
"I have done so much for this club down the years and especially last season. Now I'm sitting on the bench and I don't know why," he said. "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.
"I got a lot of promises in the summer and so far I am on the bench for three games so I can't say they keep the promise. 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."
Salah was subsequently questioned about whether his rapport with manager Slot had deteriorated. He responded: "Yeah, there's no relationship between us. It was a very good relationship and now all of a sudden there is no relationship."
His firm position suggested he was genuinely weighing up his Anfield future. The Liverpool manager addressed this revelation later that week, before a Champions League fixture against Inter Milan, for which Salah was omitted. He said: "It was a surprise to me when I heard he gave the comments he gave."
Shortly afterwards, Salah flew out to AFCON with Egypt, where he steered them to another semi-final but couldn't get beyond eventual champions Senegal. They departed the tournament 1-0 at this point and suffered defeat to Nigeria on penalties in the third-place playoff.
However, prior to his departure, team-mate Curtis Jones disclosed that following a match against Brighton, in which Salah emerged from the substitutes' bench to provide an assist, the 33-year-old had already said sorry to his colleagues for the inflammatory interview.
Jones said to Sky Sports: "Mo is his own man and he can say his own stuff. He apologised to us and was like, 'If I've affected anybody or made you feel any sort of way, I apologise'. That's the man that he is.
"I can only speak from me knowing Mo and how he is with us and how he acted on that. He was positive as well. He was the exact same Mo, he had a big smile on his face and everybody was exactly the same with him. I guess it's just part of wanting to be a winner and I don't think he will be the last."
The instant implication following Salah's tirade was that he'd be pursuing a departure in January and whilst this tense situation has cooled, the Egyptian's destiny on deadline day remains fundamentally unclear.