John Barnes furious with Mohamed Salah for 'God-given right' Liverpool claim

Former Liverpool star John Barnes has hit out at Mohamed Salah following the winger's comments during his outburst against Liverpool and Arne Slot earlier this month

John Barnes has criticized Mohamed Salah for comments made during his outburst against Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

John Barnes believes that Mohamed Salah had no right to hit out at Liverpool or Arne Slot for being left out of the side.

Salah accused the club of throwing him “under the bus” in an extraordinary interview earlier this month, in which he also claimed that someone at Anfield was trying to drive him out, and that his relationship with Slot had broken down.

The Reds’ head coach does appear to have reached a short-term solution with the 33-year-old, with Salah having been restored to the squad against Brighton after being left out against Inter Milan as a result of his outburst.

What lies in store once he returns from the Africa Cup of Nations though is not clear, with discussions set to continue between Liverpool and the player’s representatives while he’s away in Morocco.

Salah’s outburst has drawn plenty of reaction from former players, with Jamie Carragher branding his comments a “disgrace”, and Barnes has insisted that the winger was wrong to suggest he shouldn’t have been left out of the side.

“No one has a God-given right to be in the team, particularly if you're not playing well,” Barnes told BetMGM.

Mohamed Salah accused Liverpool of breaking promises to him during his outburst(Image: Getty Images)

“You can't be in the team based on your name, it has to be on the teamsheets because of current performances as well as past ones.

“If he was playing well, scoring goals, and playing consistently well, then of course, I think he [Mohamed Salah] would have had a point, as much as I still feel that you should always keep it in-house. However, I don't think that what you've done in the past gives you any rights in the present or the future.

“I think Liverpool have handled it well and resolved it in the right way – Arne Slot has been very strong in leaving him out and has said all he wants to say on the subject. He then brought him back into the team the next game and Mo created the goal and played well.”

Salah also accused Liverpool and Slot of breaking promises made to him during the summer after he signed a new two-year contract. He didn’t disclose exactly what had been promised to him, but Barnes insists he shouldn’t have been given any guarantees.

“He said he was promised things by the club, which I don’t agree with at all,” Barnes added.

“You cannot promise a 21-year-old they are going to play every game and you can't promise whoever is the best player in the world that either because, if you don't perform, regardless of why, the team suffers.

“That shouldn't have been promised to Salah but it happens to us all. We get to the latter stages of our careers, we can't run around as much as we could and we slow down. It's a fact of life.

Discussions are set to continue between Salah and Liverpool over his future(Image: Offside via Getty Images)

“I don't know how he feels as to whether maybe he felt he was being promised to play every week, but I think that once you get to 33 or 34 and the realisation comes in that you can't do what you used to do, a lot of frustration comes in with that because you still feel like you can.

“I remember feeling that I was doing okay, but then I saw myself on television running around and realised how much slower I’d become. When you're actually doing it, you don't feel that way, do you? It happens to everyone and it will happen to Mo.

“He's a fantastic player but he's not as good as he was last year or the year before that and he's not gonna get any better because he’s getting older. Things move on in football, like it does in life, and he has to come to terms with that.”