The source of Mohamed Salah’s apparent anger is reportedly one of his Liverpool team-mates
Florian Wirths has been accused of being the man behind Mohamed Salah’s outburst, according to reports. The Egyptian great shocked the football world by slamming Liverpool and manager Arne Slott after last Saturday’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United.
Salah, 33, accused the Reds of making him a scapegoat for their failed Premier League title defense and claimed his good relationship with Slott had broken down. The winger was left out of Liverpool’s squad for Tuesday’s 1-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan as a result of his comments.
The Bild report sensationally claims that Wirtz’s status as the team’s future is the source of Salah’s animosity, as he is seen as a role model and one of the leaders in Liverpool’s dressing room.
Reports also branded the forward an enemy within the Reds’ dressing room. Salah has been relegated to the bench in the last three league games and has started every game, but he is reportedly not happy with the competitive Egyptian.
Liverpool are said to have known for some time that Salah has the biggest ego at the club, which is said to have been accepted given his incredible goal and assist record. However, the report added that if the level of the winger’s final product declines, the support he would enjoy from the club would no longer exist.
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The paper goes on to suggest that his scathing comments about the club show a lack of consideration for his team-mates, as shown by Wertz’s silence amid criticism following a slow start to his Anfield career.
It’s only been eight months since Salah signed a new two-year deal that extends his association with Liverpool until 2027, but it remains to be seen whether the club icon played his last game in red.
The £450m Liverpool paid in the summer transfer window was expected to help preserve Salah’s longevity, giving the club’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League an additional attacking contribution.
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However, the struggles of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak since their big-money moves to Merseyside have left Liverpool with much of the fluidity up front that won them the overall league title just a few months ago.
During Jamie Carragher’s eight-minute rant on Monday Night Football about Salah’s comments after the game against Leeds, the Sky Sports pundit said Salah had “let himself down” when he pulled away from assisting Wirtz, which would have been the 22-year-old’s opening goal in a 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in October.
Carragher explained: “In my eyes, his real disappointment was in Frankfurt and another game this season. “There are players who have signed for Liverpool who need goals more than anyone else and they have Florian Wirths.
“Instead of being a great player for the club, be a great ambassador for the club and roll the ball to him for an easy tap-in, go up to him and give him a hug and say: ‘You’re the man who’s going to take this Liverpool team forward. I don’t need any more goals.’
In his comments at Elland Road, Salah admitted he does not know what his future holds after returning from the African Cup of Nations in January. “I couldn’t believe I was sitting on the bench for 90 minutes,” the 33-year-old said.
“This is the third time this has happened. I think it’s the first time in my career. I’m very disappointed. I’ve done a lot for this club over the years, especially last season. It’s like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I feel. Someone is trying to put all the blame on me.”
“The club promised me a lot in the summer. Now that I’m on the bench, I can say that they haven’t kept their promises. I used to have a good relationship[with Slott]. Now we don’t have anything to do, but I don’t know why.”
“It’s like someone doesn’t want me at the club. I called my mum and dad and told them to come to the Brighton game. It doesn’t matter whether I play or not. I’m going to enjoy it.”
“I’m just going to go to Anfield and say goodbye to the fans before the African Cup of Nations, because I don’t know what will happen when I’m there. To be fair is unacceptable to me. If I were elsewhere, every club would protect a player. Now it’s ‘throw Mo under the bus, because he has problems in the team’.”
