Mohamed Salah will not play for Liverpool in the coming weeks after joining up with the Egyptian squad for the Africa Cup of Nations. The winger has not started a game for the Reds since the 4-1 humiliation at PSV in late November.
Salah was on the bench for Liverpool’s Premier League matches against West Ham, Sunderland and Leeds. He was unable to appear on the pitch against the Hammers and Los Blancos, and claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club after his relationship with manager Arne Slott soured. The 33-year-old did not travel to Italy for the Reds’ Champions League clash with Inter Milan last week, but returned to the bench for Saturday’s league game against Brighton. And Liverpool fans will have to wait until the new year to see him in club colors again.
Salah removed from Egypt squad
After assisting Hugo Ekitike’s second goal against Brighton, Salah traveled to Egypt to join up with his international team-mates.
However, because he missed practice the day before, he was not included in his home country’s AFCON warm-up match against Nigeria on Tuesday.
Ahly SC star Zizo started on the right wing instead of Liverpool, and Egypt ended up winning the match 2-1. However, Salah will captain Egypt at AFCON and will aim to lead his country to the trophy for the first time since 2010.
Salah’s farewell message
After playing his last game for the club in 2025, Salah took to Instagram to remind his followers just how good he is.
The veteran posted a diagram showing a list of players who contributed the most goals and assists for one club during the Premier League era.
Salah took his 277th Premier League goal against the Seagulls and moved to the top of the list at the weekend.
Wayne Rooney is second for Manchester United with 276 goals, while the striker’s former Red Devils teammate Ryan Giggs is third with 271 goals.
AFCON verdict on slots
Slott spoke to Salah ahead of the game against Brighton and decided to bring the ace back into the squad. And before the player left for Egypt, the Liverpool manager explained: “For me there are no issues to solve. He is like any other player. If you are happy or dissatisfied with things, you talk to the players. You should talk to the players.”
“Mo is going to AFCON now and I hope he does well, but in the meantime we have to get by without him and without so many players. But the good thing is that he gets to play on Saturday (against Tottenham) and Saturday (against Wolves).”
