Mohamed Salah has been dropped from the Liverpool squad for their Uefa Champions League clash with Inter Milan following his public criticism of the club at the weekend.
The Egyptian forward has paid the price for his explosive comments after Liverpool's 3-3 draw with Leeds United when Salah was an unused substitute at Elland Road.
It was the third game in a row that the 33-year-old had been left out and Salah made a point of stopping in the media mix zone after the match to express his frustrations at what he described as being scapegoated for Liverpool's dire start to the season.
Salah suggested he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club following a string of poor results while also claiming his relationship with manager Arne Slot had completely broken down.
“It is not acceptable for me,” he said during his long salvo after Saturday's match. “I don't know why this is happening to me. I don't get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player.
“How I see it now is like you throw Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now. But I don't think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club.
“The respect, I want to get. 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.”
While he trained with his teammates in Merseyside on Monday morning, Liverpool had decided that he would not be travelling to Italy later in the day.
Liverpool's defence of their Premier League crown has been disastrous with Slot's side sitting eighth in the table having lost six out of 15 matches. They lost four games in the entire 2024/25 title-winning campaign.
Salah was an ever-present figure in Liverpool's record-equalling 20th English top-flight title triumph, winning the Golden Boot after scoring 29 goals in 38 games while also supplying 18 assists.
But Salah's form had started to drop off towards the end of last season when he scored just twice and assisted once in the final nine league games, during a spell which had also seen him end months of speculation about his future by signing a contract extension with the club.
Salah's fall in output has continued this season with four goals and two assists in 13 league games. By the same point last season, he had scored 11 times and supplied a further seven.
In the three games since he was dropped, Liverpool won 2-0 at West Ham United, drew 1-1 against Sunderland at Anfield before Saturday's thriller at Leeds.
Manager Slot had praised Salah's reaction to being left out at the London Stadium which ended his 53-game run of Premier League starts. “It’s a fair assumption [that he wasn’t happy],” said Slot.
“He has been so outstanding for this club for so many years and will be for us in the future. So yeah, of course a player isn’t happy not playing.
“He wasn’t the only one who wasn’t happy that he wasn’t starting, I can tell you. And that’s normal. But the way he behaved was as you would expect from the professional he is.”
After the Sunderland game, captain Virgil van Dijk – whose form has also been criticised this season – said the decision to drop Salah was proof that no one has “unlimited credit” at the club.
“He is still a fantastic player and we still have to remember there is a reason why he has been so successful at the club and we have to respect that,” the Dutchman said of his teammate.
“I need him around as one of the leaders. I'm not worried. He's disappointed but that's absolutely normal as if you're not disappointed when you're not playing two games in a row then there is an issue as well.
“That's always been the case [that no player is undroppable]. It's not like you have unlimited credit, everyone has to perform.”
Salah is due to head out to play for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations on December 15 and could, if the Pharoahs reach the final in Morocco, miss as many as eight Liverpool games.
Before then, the Merseysiders face Inter at the San Siro before a home game against Brighton on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether Salah is seen in Liverpool colours again this year.
The turmoil of the last couple of days has reignited talk of Salah moving to the Saudi Pro League which he admitted could have happened in the summer if his contract talks with Liverpool had failed to reach an agreement.
Al Hilal, currently managed by Italian coach Simeone Inzaghi, are long-term admirers of the player who has scored 250 goals in 420 Liverpool appearances.
