Mohamed Salah posted a particularly meaningful image on his Instagram account. The “Pharaoh” showed up at the Liverpool training center and made it known on social networks on Tuesday, the day after he was left out of the group selected to face Inter Milan in the Champions League. The 33-year-old winger arrived by car in the morning at Kirkby, the Reds’ training center, where he then posted a photo of himself on Instagram from the gym, completely alone.
Liverpool decided on Monday to deprive him of the trip to Italy in response to an incendiary media outing from the Egyptian on Saturday after a match at Leeds (3-3), where he was placed on the substitutes’ bench at kick-off for the third time in a row. Salah had described to journalists an “not acceptable” situation, denounced “promises” not kept by his club and assured that he had “no more relationship” with coach Arne Slot.
“If a player makes that many comments, it’s up to me, it’s up to us as a club to react. And our reaction is visible to the fact that he is not there,” replied the Dutch technician on Monday from Milan. Neither the club nor the coach specified whether the sanction would stop at this non-call-up for this European clash.
“Say goodbye to the supporters”
Liverpool then host Brighton on Saturday in the league. This is the final match before Salah’s scheduled departure to the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco (December 22-January 18) with Egypt. Salah suggested that this meeting could be his last in the Reds jersey, which he has worn since 2017. “I will be at Anfield to say goodbye to the supporters (…) before going to the African Cup of Nations, because I do not know what will happen when I get there,” he said on Saturday.
Extended in April, with a salary increase at stake, Salah is attracting strong interest from rich Saudi clubs looking for world stars. The third top scorer in the history of the Reds (250 goals in 420 games) won a Champions League and twice the English championship with Liverpool.
