Egyptian fans and commentators back 'our legend' Salah in Liverpool drama

Some speculate that player's outburst against club and manager Arne Slot was planned

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and manager Arne Slot during a training session on Monday. Press Association

“He is our immortal Egyptian legend; he is the Egyptian king who is crowned in our hearts and minds!”

This flowery, though a little dramatic, praise for Mohamed Salah came from popular Egyptian talk show host and bestselling author Ibrahim Issa, delivered in a televised monologue in support of the footballer whose future at Liverpool is hanging at the balance.

“Mohamed Salah is the role model every Egyptian must follow in his footsteps … We tell Mohamed Salah 'you will never walk alone. Glory will accompany you in every step',” said Mr Issa, who spoke while clutching Salah's Liverpool number 11 shirt.

Salah's battle of wills with Liverpool has hit headlines around the world since the prolific winger decided to air his frustration last week after being benched in the last three Liverpool fixtures and coming on only once. He was dropped from the squad that travelled to Italy on Tuesday for a Champions League match against Inter Milan.

Mr Issa's sentiments about Salah are not uncommon in Egypt, a country of 108 million that has for more than a decade shown love and reverence for the player who took the Premier League by storm when he moved to Liverpool in 2017.

Salah training with his Liverpool team-mates on Tuesday. AFP

To his millions of fans in Egypt, Salah could do no wrong on and off the pitch, filling their hearts with joy and pride.

So, it's not at all surprising that they took his side when he publicly berated the club and his manager, Dutchman Arne Slot, on Saturday.

Liverpool have struggled in their title defence this season and lie 10th after 15 games, 10 points behind leaders Arsenal. Salah has also struggled, with just four goals in 13 top-flight appearances.

After twice surrendering the lead in a 3-3 draw at Leeds United last Saturday, Salah told reporters: “It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame (for the slump) … someone does not want me in the club.”

However, some in Egypt are speculating that Salah's harsh words for the club and Slot were not spoken in the heat of the moment, but were rather a calculated move on his part to pile pressure on the manager over Liverpool's miserable run or because his mind has already been made up to leave.

“The way he spoke was a little harsh and his relations with Liverpool are now semi-severed. His days in Liverpool are numbered,” said TV talk show host Tamer Amin.

“But he would not have spoken this way if he had not already decided to leave … In my view, it makes no difference to him now. He has already become a legend and no longer needs to prove himself. He stands to lose nothing if he now joins the Saudi league.”

A fan with an Egyptian flag during Liverpool's match against Inter Milan this week. PA

Salah's fans took to social media in droves to defend the player, analyse his standoff with Liverpool or share their personal take on the saga.

“I realised long ago that Salah's end at Liverpool will not be pleasant and that's based on my knowledge of the English culture,” Amr Ammar wrote on Facebook. “His situation validates our popular proverb 'they had him when he had meat on him and discarded him when all that's left of him were bones'.

“I am inclined to think he and his agent had agreed for Salah to leave the club before he spoke to the press,” he suggested. “His comments did not sound like they were made at a moment of anger … most likely, Salah is carrying in his pocket a lucrative offer to leave Liverpool.”

Some blamed Slot for Salah's quarrel with Liverpool. British-based commentator Yasser El Shenwany believes the manager deliberately pushed Salah to the point where he had no choice but to go public with his frustration.

“His comments mean he has been under immense pressure. It's in the interest of that man [Slot] that Salah gets to that point. They schemed against Salah,” he said, citing the Egypt international's contract extension in April that, according to Mr El Shenwany, met every demand Salah made.

Salah has scored four goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season. AFP

Amr Adeeb, possibly the most popular Egyptian talk show host, also pointed an accusing finger at Slot. “The manager's vanity made Salah act the way he did and reach a stage where he will leave Liverpool.”

Significantly, Salah's club crisis comes just days before he leaves the club for potentially month-long international duty, joining the Pharaohs – record seven-time African champions – in the Africa Cup of Nations that kicks off in Morocco later in December.

Salah has not won the continental title with the Pharaohs, who last lifted the cup in 2010, and is likely to give it everything this time round to show the world that Slot was wrong to bench him.

His teammates have been full of praise for him, a good first step in the Pharaohs' campaign to bring cheer to their football-mad nation.

“Players like him do not get benched,” Egyptian striker Ahmed “Kouka” Hassan wrote online. “Mo is not just a teammate, he is a leader, a legend for club and country. Keep working hard brother, every situation in life is temporary, moments like this pass, what stays is your greatness.”

Egypt manager Hossam Hassan will be looking to Salah in his team's Africa Cup of Nations campaign. EPA

The Pharaohs' manager, former international Hossam Hassan, posted a photograph of himself and Salah and a message: “Always a symbol of perseverance and strength.”

If Salah regains his scoring touch in Morocco, his reward might realistically come from a place other than Liverpool.

Saudi Arabia says it will do “whatever it can” to recruit Salah during the January transfer window, according to a Public Investment Fund (PIF) source in the kingdom who spoke to AFP.

But how Salah conducted himself after the Leeds game last weekend will continue to be analysed by pundits and fans.

Football commentator Sabry Sirag has taken issue with the player's contention that he should not have to fight for a starting place in the squad given what he has done for the club since arriving from Rome.

“There's no such thing in football,” he said. “In fact, Salah's poor form may have been one of the reasons, not the main reason, of Liverpool's predicament. Their results had relatively improved when he was benched.

“There is no conspiracy against Salah. Everyone in Liverpool who lost his form has been benched.”