Mohamed Salah was left out of the Liverpool squad for the Champions League clash with Inter Milan and the forward has taken to social media to post a cryptic image at the club’s AXA Training Centre
Liverpool outcast Mohamed Salah has sparked intrigue with a mysterious social media post showing him at the club’s AXA Training Centre, while his team-mates are in Italy for their Champions League match against Inter Milan.
The Egyptian star shared an image of himself in the gym area on X. The photo, posted without any caption, showcases the weights section where he appears to have been training between matches. Salah was notably absent from Arne Slot’s squad for Tuesday’s showdown with Inter, following his fiery interview with journalists after the draw with Leeds.
In the interview, the Liverpool forward expressed feeling as though he was being “thrown under the bus” by those within the club amid their woeful run of form, and also questioned his rapport with the manager. He also hinted at uncertainty about his future at Anfield, just as the January transfer window looms.
When quizzed about these comments ahead of the San Siro clash, Slot gave a strong response, reports the Mirror. “The only one who can answer that question is Mo himself,” the manager replied when asked who Salah was referring to in his remarks about being thrown under the bus.
“I can guess, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do in this moment of time. It’s hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest.”
Whilst Salah insisted the relationship had deteriorated, Slot offered a contrasting perspective, stating: “No, that’s not the way I feel. But he has the right to feel how he feels things. I haven’t felt that at all until Saturday evening for sure, because I think when I didn’t play him anymore, usually players don’t like the manager then that much.
“But he was very respectful to my staff members, to his team-mates, and he trained really hard. So, to an extent, it was a surprise to me when I heard after the game that he gave the comments he gave. But, as I said, it’s not the first and not the last time that when a player doesn’t play.
“I’m not sure if he was emotional or not, but that he says something similar to what he did. But I think our, my reaction to that is also clear and that’s that he’s not here with us tonight.”
Liverpool will be missing Salah for their encounter with Inter Milan, after the manager decided to exclude him from the squad following his remarks. The Merseyside club will also be without crucial players including Cody Gakpo and Federico Chiesa, who weren’t selected for the squad departing for Italy on Monday afternoon.
Slot will be eager to guide his team back to victorious form after two disappointing stalemates in the Premier League. Inter represents far from an straightforward fixture for their return, given they occupy fourth place in the Champions League standings with four victories and a single loss from their initial five outings.
Liverpool are just one point away from the top eight, with victory putting them in a strong position to secure direct qualification to the round of 16 whilst avoiding two additional knockout matches. Whilst much of the discussion will take place on the field, any outcome is likely to reignite debate about Salah’s omission.
Focus will swiftly shift to whether the weekend’s fixture marks Salah’s final appearance for Liverpool before linking up with Egypt for AFCON, with the January transfer window also opening during this period.
“We are sitting here on an evening before a big game, a big fixture for us, Inter Milan,” Slot remarked when questioned about the possibility of Salah featuring against Brighton. “There was only now maybe 36 hours between the moment we have conceded the 3-3 against Leeds and the moment I’m sitting here.
“I think you can understand as well that I’ve tried to prepare my team in the best possible way for the game tomorrow evening. The most thoughts that I had are about tomorrow and, in the meantime, we’ve decided what I’ve just said – not to take him with us to this game. After tomorrow we will look at the situation again.”