There are sentences that fall like bombs. When Mohamed Salah suggests he has been “thrown under the bus”, it is not a simple frustration of a disgruntled player. This is a signal to break up. A message launched in the middle of the media fire. And at that moment, at Liverpool, no one could pretend that everything would still be resolved in the silence of the locker room.
Facing him, Arne Slot remains straight, calm, almost cold. Asked about the famous “broken” relationship, he refuses to get into the emotional game. “The only one who can answer is Salah himself.” A short sentence, but full of meaning. The technician does not deny head-on, he does not provoke, he protects the institution. And above all, he acts. The only discussion between the two men is limited to a dry message: Salah is not going to Milan with the group.
This detail is crucial. Because this decision is not just that of a vexed coach. Salah’s sidelining comes straight from the top of the club. Sports management, executive management, owners: everyone validated. Liverpool, the institution, has decided. And the message is clear: the club is 100% behind its coach, Arne Slot.
This is where everything changes. For years, Salah was the face, the symbol, the offensive guarantor of Liverpool. But this time, the club does not shy away from its star. No apologetic statement, no attempt to calm things down in the shadows. Just a clear, assumed, almost surgical decision.
However, Liverpool are not talking about sanctions. Officially, it is a “short-term measure”. The club says it still believes in a possible reintegration. Salah is even under contract until 2027. But in modern football, everyone knows how to read between the lines. When a crisis becomes public, it is never again trivial.
The most revealing, in my opinion, is this brutal transfer of responsibility: the ball is now in Salah’s court. If he wants to leave, he will have to provoke the movement. Bring offers. Accept the breakup. Liverpool, for its part, positions itself as a reasonable institution, ready to discuss, but not to deny itself. The club protects its sporting, financial and above all symbolic value.
But today another parameter is added to this internal dynamic. The external market. Because serious, concrete offers threaten to turn this crisis into a definitive departure.
When the call from elsewhere also weighs
From the first hours of the crisis, several clubs in the Saudi Pro League, notably Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal, positioned themselves as serious contenders to welcome Salah. These two clubs, massively financed, are ready to rebuild around a star capable of restoring the league’s international visibility.
The discussions would be far from superficial. According to some sources, the offer offered to Salah could put him among the highest paid players in the world. We are talking about an XXL package combining salary, bonus, star status and the role of ambassador. Some estimates suggest colossal amounts, difficult to align with what a classic European club offers.
This dual appeal — the desire to break away from a broken locker room and the lure of a record contract — is a game-changer. Salah’s departure would no longer be a simple option, but a real probability. In this context, the hand seems to pass from Liverpool to Saudi Arabia. But above all, the player finds power again. If he accepts, it’s an honorable exit. If he refuses, it is a challenge to presuppositions.
This external context dramatically accentuates the issue. It’s no longer just an internal conflict: it’s a turning point in a player’s career — the possibility of a new chapter, elsewhere, with full-fledged superstar status. And for Liverpool, it is perhaps the opportunity to draw a line under an era, without dramatization, without public humiliation.
A potentially divided locker room
Another essential aspect emerges from this situation: the locker room is no longer structured around an untouchable status. Talent, as immense as it may be, no longer guarantees immunity. Today’s football imposes a clear rule: you don’t play for your name, you play for the project.
Arne Slot, in this storm, struck me with one essential thing: he never talks about himself. He always talks about the club. He refers everything to the institution. Hearing his words, we understand that, for him, Liverpool is bigger than any player, even Mohamed Salah.
The time of choice is approaching
When Arne Slot says: “I have no idea if this is his last game for Liverpool.”
This sentence, behind its apparent neutrality, sounds like a confession. At this stage, everything indicates that Mohamed Salah is closer to the exit than the return.
The divorce has not yet been officially finalized. But the marriage is deeply fractured. And with Saudi Arabia’s serious and financial interest, the risk of a permanent divorce is real. Football business has its logic: maintain the prestige of the club, recover compensation, or let the star leave for a golden bridge in another championship.
And while Liverpool settles its scores, the King of Egypt returns to the desert: Mohamed Salah flies to the selection to prepare for the African Cup of Nations, buoyed by the public support of the Egyptian Federation which crowned him on Instagram “The one and only King”… without yet knowing what the future holds for him on his return.
