Mohamed Salah's Farewell: Tension at Anfield

Mohamed Salah will say his farewell to Anfield on Sunday. How that goodbye looks — a full 90 minutes, a late cameo, or a seat on the bench — is suddenly the most contentious question on Merseyside.

What should have been a straightforward, emotional send-off for one of Liverpool’s greatest scorers now arrives wrapped in tension. The club’s season finale against Brentford carries the usual stakes of Champions League qualification, but it also comes with a very public rift between Salah and manager Arne Slot hanging over it.

The flashpoint came after last Friday’s 4-2 defeat to Aston Villa, when Salah openly criticized Liverpool’s approach and called for a return to the “heavy metal attacking” that once terrified opponents. It was not a veiled hint. It was a direct challenge to the style and direction under Slot.

The eruption did not come out of nowhere. It marked the second time this season that the Egypt star and his manager have clashed in public, a rare spectacle at a club that has long prided itself on keeping disputes behind closed doors.

So when Slot faced the media on Friday, the inevitable question came: will Salah definitely feature against Brentford?

“I never say anything about team selection,” Slot replied. “It would be a surprise to you if I did this right now, I think.”

No reassurance. No sentimental guarantees for a modern club icon about to walk away a year earlier than planned.

Back in March, Salah, now 33, confirmed he would leave at the end of the season after agreeing with Liverpool to terminate his contract one year early. It was a controlled, carefully managed decision on paper. The reality on the pitch has been messier.

In his ninth year at Anfield, Salah’s numbers have dipped. The relentless end product that defined his peak has faded enough that he was dropped for a run of games late last year. That spell out of the side clearly stung. He later told reporters the club “has thrown me under the bus.”

Those words linger now as Liverpool prepare for what should be a celebration of a remarkable era. Instead, Anfield heads into Sunday not quite sure what it is about to witness: a final roar for a legend in full flow, or a strained goodbye framed by a manager’s team sheet.