Mohamed Salah's outburst has left Arne Slot with a difficult decision to make ahead of Liverpool's clash with Brighton on Saturday
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates after scoring a goal to make it 4-2 during the Premier League match between Liverpool and Bournemouth at Anfield on August 15, 2025 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Mohamed Salah should take a page out of Federico Chiesa's book(Image: Getty Images)
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Federico Chiesa has struggled for minutes and fitness since joining Liverpool last year. However, despite having made just one Premier League start under Arne Slot, the Italian international continues to work hard at the training ground and put his club duties first.
The 28-year-old forward has turned down consecutive national team call-ups this season. Having suffered a series of injuries in his final season at Juventus, and enduring a difficult spell on the sidelines with a muscular concern early in his Liverpool tenure, Chiesa has focused on building his fitness and hopefully finding a way into Slot's starting XI.
Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso has admitted he "respects" Chiesa's decision to turn down the call. Among tricky times for the Liverpool player, he has shown great maturity in making a difficult decision to decline the opportunity to represent his country in favour of finding his feet again on Merseyside.
This problematic period has lasted around a year for Chiesa. However, for Mohamed Salah - who found himself benched for one week's worth of football - the Egyptian hasn't shown the maturity presented by his teammate. In fact, quite the opposite.
Salah took it upon himself to tell the media how he felt the club were "throwing him under the bus" and that his relationship with Slot had been tarnished.
Mohamed Salah and Federico Chiesa
Mohamed Salah has been Liverpool's go-to on the right-wing for years
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The 33-year-old has been the star man at Anfield since he kicked down the Premier League doors in his debut campaign by scoring 32 goals in 36 matches. Even last season, when questions were asked regarding his age and whether he could continue to play at such a high level, Salah proved all his doubters wrong.
But when the club finds itself in a crisis, with Slot's future being questioned, that's when Salah decided it was time to turn the tables. Ultimately, his frustrations erupted as a result of being benched for three games in a row.
Slot's decision likely didn’t come from a personal ideology of using Salah as a scapegoat - it was simply because he wasn't performing to his usual levels. Before he was first benched against West Ham, Salah had scored just twice in 12 games for his club. He was brought on in the second half against Sunderland, but to no avail.
Chiesa was brought on with eight minutes left to play against Bournemouth in Liverpool's opening game and went on to score the decisive goal in the 88th minute. Salah closed the game off with an injury-time finish.
The exiled Liverpool star now must take a page out of Chiesa's book. He needs to take his mind away from the media, and focus on getting back to his best.
Realistically, on his day, Salah can outplay almost any player on his favoured right-wing. But for a manager, mindset and attitude are also important - and both are things the Egyptian has failed to display with his comments.
Now, Salah is facing an uncertain future. He has hinted that Brighton could be his final game for the club. This leaves Slot with a difficult decision as to whether to feature the 33-year-old in the team. He completely left Salah out for their trip to face Inter Milan on Tuesday.
If the experienced winger is to leave in January, it would leave a gap on the right-wing. This could benefit Chiesa’s hard work and give the Italian an opportunity to prove himself in the Premier League.
But for Salah, Slot, and the club as a whole, it is now crunch time. If the Egyptian international is unable to apologise for his comments and fails to reintegrate into the squad, it could be a quick and sour ending for Salah - a Liverpool legend.