Self-indulgent Salah outburst has echoes of Roy Keane’s infamous MUTV interview

Egyptian’s calculated outburst is a challenge to management and their support for embattled Arne Slot

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah warms up ahead of the Premier League clash with Leeds United at Elland Road Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP via Getty Images 

Mohamed Salah’s relationship with Liverpool is broken. That is abundantly clear after the incendiary interview at Elland Road on Saturday night that also poses a test of the club’s relationship with Arne Slot. The next revelation will be the extent of internal support for the coach who delivered Liverpool’s record-equalling 20th league title eight months ago.

Salah may have been emotional having been benched for the third successive game, but stunning waiting reporters not only by stopping to speak but by dropping a series of grenades during a post-match interview lasting more than seven minutes was not a case of heart ruling head. It never is when one of the greatest players to pull on the red shirt deigns to address the media. Whether it is criticism of contract negotiations, applying a little more pressure to get an agreeable deal done or, in this instance, piling more problems on Slot, Salah’s words are calculated to achieve what he wants.