Mohamed Salah says he feels like he has been “thrown under the bus” by Liverpool and 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 added that he was unsure about his Liverpool future, despite signing a new two-year contract in April.
After the Leeds game – when Liverpool led 2-0 and then 3-2 before conceding a 96th-minute equaliser – Slot told Sky Sports why he did not use Salah off the bench.
“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.
“I’m very disappointed. I have done so much for this club, especially last season,” he said. “It seems to me that someone doesn’t want me in the club.”
