Salah Tension Builds Ahead of Inter Milan Trip
Liverpool’s preparations for a pivotal Champions League night in Milan have been overshadowed by uncertainty around Mohamed Salah’s immediate future. The situation feels unusually raw for a player who has been central to the club’s modern success, yet the storm created by his words after the Leeds match continues to gather pace.
His statement that the club had thrown him “under the bus” and that he had “no relationship” with Arne Slot was striking for its bluntness and even more so for the timing. Liverpool travel to face an Inter Milan side leading Serie A and the spotlight could hardly be brighter.
Slot’s Balancing Act
Salah has not started Liverpool’s last three matches and has been an unused substitute twice. That pattern would unsettle any elite forward, but here it has sparked a public rupture. According to the original report from Lewis Steele of the Daily Mail, Salah believes “someone at the club wants him out” and hinted that next weekend’s Brighton fixture “could be his last game for the Reds.”
Slot must now decide whether the forward joins the travelling party on Monday afternoon. The optics of either decision are heavy. Taking him to Milan invites questions over unity. Leaving him behind risks widening a rift already visible to supporters.
Leadership Under Scrutiny
Liverpool’s hierarchy were said to retain belief in Slot’s capacity to steady form during this difficult stretch of four wins in fifteen. Yet the Salah episode reshapes the context entirely. It tests the power structures at the club, from Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, to the head coach tasked with managing a modern icon whose frustration has spilled into public glare.
Salah attended the AXA Training Centre recovery session on Sunday as scheduled. The team is set to train at 11.45am Monday before the flight. Slot will address the media alongside a player in Milan at 6.30pm, regardless of whether his most famous forward is with him.
What Comes Next
One detail in Lewis Steele’s reporting stands out for its sharpness. Salah “is also yet to start an away Champions League game this season.” Whether tactical, fitness related or rooted in broader tensions, that omission now reads differently.
There is a temptation to imagine this episode as a crossroads moment. Salah’s comments carried a tone of finality and emotion that felt uncharacteristic. Yet Liverpool have lived through storms before. Senior figures will insist the club acts in line with principles rather than personalities.
Even so, this is a delicate moment for an institution built on identity, leadership and clarity. How Liverpool respond in the coming hours could shape more than one European night. It could define the next phase of Arne Slot’s reign.
Our View, Anfield Index Analysis
Supporters will find this situation deeply unsettling. Salah has been the heartbeat of the side for years and hearing him speak about feeling thrown “under the bus” is difficult to process. Fans have seen slump periods, but rarely anything that feels like an internal fracture.
The idea that next weekend “could be his last game for the Reds” will frighten supporters who believed he would play a central part in Liverpool’s attempt to defend their title. Whatever form issues exist, losing a player of his stature in such a turbulent manner would be seismic.
There is also anxiety around timing. This squad has been stretched and confidence is fragile. Four wins from fifteen matches is troubling enough. Remove Salah from the picture entirely and the challenge becomes steeper still.
Many fans will wonder how the relationship between Slot and Salah has deteriorated this far, this quickly. Slot has goodwill after winning the Premier League in his debut season, but even sympathetic supporters will question whether communication and man management have faltered.
Liverpool supporters crave stability. What they see today feels like anything but that. Whatever happens on Monday, they simply hope this story has not already reached its conclusion.
