11 hours ago
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The future of Mohamed Salah at Liverpool is shrouded in uncertainty following his outburst against Arne Slot. Even if he does stay, the Egyptian won't be sporting his surname on his shirt.
His jersey reads 'M. Salah', despite his full name being Mohamed Salah Ghaly. This naming convention has its roots in Arab culture. Mohamed is the name used by his close friends and family, while Salah is his father's first name. In Egypt, it's customary to use the father's first name as a 'middle' name to denote lineage.
Ghaly is his family name, which is used in all his official documents. It's entirely plausible that this name could soon be signed on a contract with a new club, following his remarkable post-match interview at Leeds United, where he was on the bench for the third successive match.
His explosive comments, in which he claimed to have no relationship with Slot and felt he had been "thrown under the bus", resulted in him being left out of the squad for the Reds' Champions League match against Inter Milan.
In the now-notorious interview, Salah expressed his desire to bid farewell to Liverpool fans against Brighton on Saturday before joining the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.
But Salah had looked unlikely to play against the Seagulls, with Liverpool understandably hesitant to allow a final Kop farewell that could confirm his departure and potentially decrease his market value.
However, following face-to-face talks with Slot, he is set to return to the squad.
Slot had insisted he was open to reconciliation, provided Salah was willing to reciprocate. Speaking after the victory over Inter, the head coach told Prime Video: "First, you have to ask if the player feels he made a mistake.
"I'm going to talk to him. But then you have to ask, should the initiative come from me?"
However, during his press conference, Slot slightly backtracked on those remarks, saying: "I didn't say who should make the first step.
"Tonight, it should be all about the players that are here. In the rich history Liverpool has had, they have had many of these evenings."
Salah and Slot were due to hold face-to-face talks on Friday. Meanwhile, Dominik Szoboszlai believes Salah has the right to decide his own future and maintains that his comments have not affected personal relationships within the dressing room.
The Hungarian said: "I'm very close with him. It's him and his own choice with what he is doing with his own life and his own career. It's nothing to do with the players, I guess, so nothing to say about it."
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