Mohamed Salah Returns & Liverpool is Back on Track to Contention
Mohamed Salah is a Liverpool legend. Yet, even the best of the best have an expiry date. Maybe Mo’s time at Merseyside has come to an end.
Mohamed Salah is a Liverpool legend. Yet, even the best of the best have an expiry date. Maybe Mo’s time at Merseyside has come to an end. We hope it isn’t, as there’s still a world class player in him, and one that could lead the Reds to glory once again. After being dropped for the Inter Milan match in the Champions League, Salah returned to Anfield, in what would be a win against Brighton, in which he had an assist. Was it his last match at the ground he was so used to calling his home. We’ll see.
When the 90 minutes in the 2:0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion expired, Mo Salah headed toward the Kop and with tears in his eyes applauded the crowd. His family was in attendance too, and the signs of a goodbye were visible and felt at Anfield yesterday. The crowd chanted his name during the match and afterward, and it appeared that fans were not yet prepared to bid a farewell.
Knowing the answer to the question whether he will stay or leave is all up to Salah. From the moment he entered the pitch at the 26th minute of the game it was clear that he is a player on the mission. Luckily for Salah, and the rest of Liverpool fans, he contributed to the win with an assist. The Pharaoh who has been Liverpool’s best for a decade or so has had a fallout with the head coach Arne Slot, and not even the best online bookmakers could have predicted that this would happen only a few months after he signed his new Liverpool contract.
Yet, here we are. Slot was wise not to put individual over team’s effort, and Salah is guilty for taking his opinions to the press. Both men were wise enough to reconcile in a short notice, and to take home two consecutive wins, one in the CL and the other one in the PL. What makes Liverpool fans happy is that the team also managed to hold down the fortress as they haven’t conceded in two consecutive matches.
While all eyes were on Mo Salah and Arne Slot during the duel against Brighton, the star of the night was Hugo Ekitike who scored a brace. Considering that Liverpool is not operating under normal circumstances for the first time in the last few years, Ekitike will not be mad that he’s not in the centre of it all. Mo Salah stole the show in what might be his farewell to Anfield after all. The Egyptian captain and their best player is travelling to meet his national team teammates ahead of the upcoming African Cup of Nations. With the January transfer window ahead of us, and interest in Salah from Saudi Arabia being no secret, it could be possible that we’ve seen the last of Salah at the Anfield.
If this is a sign off, it could have been one wrapped up with a goal, but Salah missed solid chances created by Federico Chiesa, or with another assist when he over hit a pass in the dying seconds of the game. All in all, it is clear that Mo’s head is not in the right place. With his absence being guaranteed for the next three weeks, Liverpool is left with a decision to make. It is clear that Salah still has plenty to offer to this team. Yet, it all comes down to how the team performs in his absence. With the African Cup of Nations being held from 21st of December, 2025, until 18th of January, 2026, there will be time for the Reds to test themselves without one of the club’s legends, while there will also be time to sell him in the winter if it comes to it, once the Pharaoh is back from the international duty.
As far as Liverpool’s schedule goes, it is congested during the winter as ever. The Reds will be playing Tottenham, Wolves, Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal, Barnsley, and Burnley before Salah is back. That’s seven matches to determine whether the poor form the team found itself in the early stages of the season was up to Salah or simply the new players haven’t hit the ground running.
When it comes to Arne Slot, the Dutch coach stood his ground at the sign of the first issues with Salah. Slot has put the team values and interest ahead of Mo’s feelings, and with the full backing of the board it turned out he was right. Now that the two men have cooled their heads, Slot said, in the aftermath of the Brighton game that it was an easy decision to recall Salah. The Dutchman also added that there were no issues to resolve. Mo was dropped after a poor run of form, and a public interview where he stated that he was thrown under the bus for the team’s poor results and that everyone is making a scapegoat out of him.
For Slot, the issues between the coach and the player need to remain between them, and as far as he’s concerned, nothing that was spoken between the two men will reach the light of the day. In the aftermath of the conflict, the two men resolved issues, if there were any, and the Pharaoh was back in the squad as the team was needing him earlier than expected. When Joe Gomez was forced to exit the game with an injury, it was Mo Salah who stepped in, and later in the match provided an assist for Hugo Ekitike.
In the press conference after the match, Slot was full of praise for Salah and accentuated his involvement in all stages of the game. With a move to Saudi Pro League still on the table for Mo, it remains to be seen whether he will be heading to SA or back to Liverpool after the AFCON. For Slot, Salah’s absence during the upcoming period was counted on, and as far as the Egyptian’s future goes Slot concluded: “He goes to Egypt now to AFCON, that means for us another player down and we already didn’t have a lot. But we knew before the season he would go and maybe one or two players could come back from injury.”
We had Mo Salah back at Anfield, and even if it was just for one match, it was a pleasure to watch him as always.