Mohamed Salah is set to bid to Liverpool on Sunday in his final Reds game but Wayne Rooney has slammed that the ‘selfish’ star should be denied his farewell after ‘disrespecting’ Arne Slot
Wayne Rooney would banish “selfish” Mo Salah from Anfield entirely and refuse him the opportunity to bid farewell before his Liverpool departure. Salah, 33, is poised to deliver an emotional goodbye to the club’s fans following Sunday’s home clash with Brentford.
The striker will exit after nine magnificent years at Liverpool, though his final campaign has been terrible both on and off the field. Salah was infamously axed from the squad in December after declaring he’d been ‘thrown under the bus’ at Liverpool, stating he had ‘no relationship’ with Arne Slot.
Now the Egyptian has launched a parting attack on Slot following Friday’s dismal 4-2 loss at Aston Villa. In a provocative social media message, Salah insisted Liverpool must return to playing ‘heavy metal football’, the attacking philosophy they were famous for under Slot’s predecessor Jurgen Klopp.
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Several of Salah’s teammates liked the post, which reflected many Liverpool fans’ sentiments towards Slot and his more measured tactics. However, Rooney has condemned the Egyptian and would bench Salah if he were managing the Reds.
The Manchester United icon opened on the Wayne Rooney Show: “I find it sad at the end of what he’s done and what he’s achieved at Liverpool. It’s not the point for him to come out and aim another dig at Slot.
“He wants to play heavy metal football, so he’s basically saying he wants Jurgen Klopp football. Now I don’t think Mo Salah can cope with that type of football anymore. I think his legs have gone to play at that high tempo and high intensity.
“If I was Arne Slot, I’d have him nowhere near the stadium in the last game. I had it with Alex Ferguson; I had a disagreement and fall out and at Alex Ferguson’s last game at Old Trafford, he left me out of the squad for that reason.
“He’s almost just dropped the grenade and said he doesn’t trust and believe in Arne Slot and almost thrown his team-mates who are going to be there next season and let them have to deal with that as well and put them into a position.”
Salah has this season lost his status as a guaranteed starter for Liverpool, scoring just 12 goals in 40 appearances. Rooney believes that his post on Saturday was an attempt to ‘vindicate himself’ after a ‘very poor’ campaign.
“I think he’s been very selfish in what he’s done in the two occasions,” the former England captain added. “It’s a shame and fans will be on his side, but I think when you look deeper into it and having been in a dressing room in a similar situation to that as well, Mo Salah knows exactly what he’s doing.
“That’s your manager. You can’t publicly disrespect him twice the way he has and get away with it. And that’s where if I was Arne Slot, I’d have to pull rank and just say, ‘listen, you’re not coming anywhere near the place on Sunday, whether you like it or not’. I really doubt he will do it, but I think he should.
“Of course he deserves a good send off but does he deserve it just for this? It’s the second time he’s done it. it’s just a shame to see one of the great icon of Premier League players leave the Premier League probably in this situation.”