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Mohamed Salah rushed through a tight Elland Road mixed zone — the area where players and journalists cross paths after a game — and declared that he would be back.
He needed to shower and get changed first, he said, but he had something that he wanted to say. Already, there were echoes of his chat last season at Southampton — the famous 'more out than in' statement.
When he returned from the locker room, Salah delivered an explosive critique of his relationship with Arne Slot, detailed how he feels Liverpool has "thrown him under the bus", and accused an unnamed person behind the scenes of wanting to get him out.
The full chat between the player and reporters lasted around seven or eight minutes; certainly, Salah felt that he had something to get off his chest. By the end, those in attendance could scarcely believe that it was real.
There is now significant doubt about whether Salah might have played his last game for Liverpool. Whether Slot is at Anfield for the long term or not, it is not only the Reds boss that he has taken aim at.
Making clear that he wasn't speaking ill of his teammates, Salah accused those who gave him a new deal eight months ago of breaking their promises to him. That goes well beyond just the head coach.
Salah rarely speaks after games — something that Jamie Carragher noted recently, which didn't go down well with the Egyptian — and so it must have reached a point where he felt he had no choice here.
He spoke passionately and at length, barely waiting for questions to be posed before giving detailed answers.
But the bottom line is that no one comes out of this well. Whichever side supporters choose to take — the side of the Liverpool legend who feels his place should be guaranteed or the side of the manager, who feels it still has to be earned — there can be no winners.
For Slot, such a public dressing down from his biggest star — the man who he got so much out of last season — will be alarming. What the other players who traveled home to Merseyside think remains unknown, but that will play a part too.
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For Salah, as well, this isn't a good look. If this is how his Liverpool career comes to an end, then that doesn't feel fitting nor appropriate. Such an outburst will have an impact on his legacy.
"It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus," he said. In doing this, though, he has returned the favor and then some.
Absolutely no one comes out of this latest chapter in the difficult season that Liverpool is enduring with anything positive to show for it.
How Slot responds to this public outburst of emotion will define his Anfield tenure, just months after he brought home the Premier League title. But it's bad news for all involved that Salah felt strongly enough to take this course of action.
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