Liverpool manager Arne Slot said he had no clue whether Mohamed Salah had played his last game for Liverpool after the Egypt forward's outspoken comments resulted in him being left out of the squad for Tuesday's Champions League game at Inter Milan.
Salah, 33, was omitted from the 19-man travelling party for the Inter clash after he said he had been "thrown under the bus" by the club in a hard-hitting interview on Saturday.
He also said that he no longer had a relationship with Dutchman Slot and that "someone" doesn't want him at the club for whom he has scored 250 goals, won two Premier League titles and a Champions League in eight memorable years at Anfield.
Asked whether Salah would play for the club again, Slot said during his pre-match press conference on Monday: "I have no clue. I cannot answer that question at this moment."
Slot took questions on the Salah saga for 10 minutes, admitting he was surprised by the player's comments after being an unused substitute in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Leeds United.
"To an extent it was a surprise for me when I heard after the game that he gave the comments he gave," Slot told reporters on Monday. "But I think our, my, reaction to that is also clear, and that's that why he's not here with us tonight."
Asked if he felt Salah's outburst had been directed at him, Slot said: "The only one who can answer that question is Mo himself. I can guess but I don't think that's the right thing to do in this moment of time. So it's hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest."
Short reaction
Salah trained with the squad on Monday, with Slot watching on, but was told he would not be making the trip to Italy.
"We let him know that he's not travelling with us, so that was the only communication that has been there from us to him," Slot said, adding that Salah's reaction had been "a short one."
Salah's form has come under fire this season, and he was left on the bench in last month's 2-0 win at West Ham United. He came on in the 1-1 home draw with Sunderland but was again an unused substitute at Leeds, a result that left Liverpool ninth.
During Saturday's outburst, Salah said he felt like he had been made a scapegoat for Liverpool's struggles.
"He has every right to feel what he feels, but he doesn't have the right to share it with the media. He has that right, but then it's up to us to react on it," Slot said.
"I think usually I'm calm and polite, but that doesn't mean I'm weak. So, if a player says these comments about so many things, then it's about me, us as a club, to react, and we reacted in a way you can see now."
Slot led Liverpool to the title in his first season, but has come under scrutiny this term, and the Salah situation is adding to the pressure he is under.
"I don't feel like my authority is being undermined," he said. "To a certain extent, I'm important in this situation as well, but the focus that I have at the moment is completely on the team and not about me at all."
Liverpool are 13th in the Champions League table with nine points from five games, while Inter are fourth with 12 points.
Blame game
Salah's comments sparked debate over who to blame for Liverpool's situation and the responsibility for his comments during a tough time for the club.
Jaime Carragher, a Champions League winner with Liverpool, lambasted him over his comments, labelling him a "disgrace."
"Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst. I don't think it was. I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he has done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it's choreographed with his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position," Carragher told Sky Sports.
"He's chosen this weekend to do this now, and he's waited, I think, for a bad result... everyone involved with the club (feeling) like they're in the gutter, and he's chosen that time to go for the manager and maybe try to get him sacked."
Manchester United's former forward Wayne Rooney said the situation needs to be sorted out quickly.
"He is absolutely destroying his legacy at Liverpool. It would be sad for him to throw it all away. He's gone about it all wrong."
Salah's countryman, Ahmed Hassan Kouka, expressed support for his national teammate, saying everyone waits for the right moment to express their frustration.
"But Mo Salah isn't 'most of us,'" Kouka said on X. "Mo is in a different category like Cristiano and Messi."
"Players like that don't get benched, and if, for any reason, they start on the bench, you must make sure they’re the first to come on, 60 minutes, 65 minutes maximum… not 'not even coming in.' That's just disrespectful to everything he's done for the club."
Many fans likened the current Salah-Slot situation to the beef between Cristiano Ronaldo and then-Manchester United coach Erik Ten Hag in 2022, where the club and most fans sided with Ten Hag at Ronaldo’s expense, only for Ten Hag to be sacked later due to bad results.
