Well, well, well. The Egyptian King has been dethroned.
Mohamed Salah has been AXED from Liverpool's Champions League squad for Tuesday's crucial clash against Inter Milan at the San Siro. The 33-year-old was spotted training with his teammates on Monday morning, but when the squad boarded the plane at Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Mo was nowhere to be seen.
This is UNPRECEDENTED. In eight years at Anfield, through all the glory, all the trophies, all the goals, Salah has never been dropped from a major European fixture while fit and available. Until now.
The interview that broke the camel's back
Let us rewind to Saturday evening. Liverpool had just thrown away ANOTHER lead, drawing 3-3 with Leeds at Elland Road after being 2-0 up. Salah, benched for the third consecutive match, was an unused substitute. Not even a sniff of action.
And then he did something that footballers almost never do. He stopped in the mixed zone and absolutely UNLOADED on his own club.
The Egyptian did not hold back. He said he felt like he had been thrown under the bus. He claimed his relationship with manager Arne Slot had completely broken down. He accused unnamed figures at the club of trying to force him out and make him the scapegoat for Liverpool's disastrous title defence.
He even took a swipe at the English media, comparing his treatment to that of Harry Kane. When Kane went ten games without scoring, everyone said he would come good eventually. When Salah has a rough patch? Straight to the bench, apparently.
Look, the man has a point. This is a player who has scored 250 goals for Liverpool. The fourth-highest scorer in Premier League HISTORY. The man who fired them to their first league title in 30 years just last season. And now he cannot even get on the pitch?
The club strikes back
But here is the thing about football clubs - they do not take kindly to being called out in public. Liverpool have sided firmly with Slot, and the message is crystal clear: nobody is bigger than the club.
Virgil van Dijk, speaking after the Sunderland draw last week, put it bluntly. No player has unlimited credit at this club, he said. Everyone has to perform. That is the captain publicly backing the manager over a teammate who has won everything there is to win at Anfield.
The club insists this is a selection decision, not a disciplinary one. Pull the other one, lads. You do not banish your record goalscorer from a Champions League knockout-stage match because of fitness management. This is a punishment, plain and simple.
The numbers do not lie
Now, in fairness to Slot, Salah's form HAS dropped off a cliff. Four goals and two assists in 13 league games this season. By the same point last campaign, he had 11 goals and seven assists. That is a massive decline.
His struggles actually started towards the end of last season - just two goals in the final nine games after he signed that bumper contract extension. Some might say he took his foot off the gas once the ink was dry. Others would call that harsh on a player who delivered the Golden Boot with 29 goals.
But here is what baffles me. If Salah is struggling, surely the solution is to work with him, not exile him? This is still one of the most talented forwards on the planet. You do not fix a confidence crisis by humiliating a player in front of the world.
Liverpool in absolute chaos
Let us zoom out for a moment and look at the bigger picture. Liverpool, the DEFENDING CHAMPIONS, are sitting in eighth place. Eight! They are TEN points behind Arsenal after just 15 games. They have won just four of their last 15 matches in all competitions.
Slot arrived at Anfield with a reputation as a tactical genius after his work at Feyenoord. He was supposed to build on Jurgen Klopp's legacy, not tear it down. Instead, the squad looks disjointed, the results are dire, and now the club's greatest modern player has been cast out like yesterday's rubbish.
This is a full-blown crisis. Make no mistake about it.
What happens next?
Salah is due to head off to the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt on December 15. If the Pharaohs go all the way to the final in Morocco, he could miss up to eight Liverpool matches.
But will he even come back? In that explosive interview, Salah hinted that Saturday's match against Brighton might be his farewell to the Anfield faithful. He spoke about saying goodbye to the supporters before leaving for AFCON. When asked if he would return, his answer was chilling: in football, you never know.
The Saudi Pro League has been circling for years. Salah has admitted he has a good relationship with clubs over there. At 33, with one massive payday left in him, would anyone blame him for walking away from this mess?
A legacy in tatters?
Wayne Rooney, never one to mince words, said Salah was destroying his legacy with those comments. That might be a bit strong - 250 goals and countless trophies cannot be erased by one angry interview.
But the manner of his departure, if it comes to that, will leave a sour taste. This should be a player celebrated as an all-time Anfield great. Instead, he is being forced out through the back door while the club he carried for years crumbles around him.
Football can be a cruel, heartless business. And right now, Mohamed Salah is learning that the hard way.
The Egyptian King is dead. Long live... whoever Slot decides to play on the right wing next.
