Wayne Rooney would have ‘selfish’ Mohamed Salah ‘nowhere near Anfield’ and refuse him the opportunity to bid farewell before his departure from Liverpool. Salah, 33, is poised to make an emotional exit from the club’s supporters following Sunday’s home fixture against Brentford.
The forward will leave after nine remarkable years at Liverpool, but his final campaign hasn’t gone according to plan, both on and off the pitch. Salah was famously omitted from the squad in December after claiming that he’d been ‘thrown under the bus’ at Liverpool, adding that he had ‘no relationship’ with Arne Slot.
Several of Salah’s team-mates liked the post, which mirrored a significant proportion of Liverpool supporters’ sentiments towards Slot and his more measured approach. But Rooney has condemned the Egyptian and would axe Salah if he was in the Reds manager’s position.
The Manchester United legend said on the Wayne Rooney Show: “I find it sad at the end of what he’s done and what he’s achieved at Liverpool. It’s not the point for him to come out and aim another dig at Slot.
“He wants to play heavy metal football, so he’s basically saying he wants Jurgen Klopp football. Now I don’t think Mo Salah can cope with that type of football anymore. I think his legs have gone to play at that high tempo and high intensity.
“If I was Arne Slot, I’d have him nowhere near the stadium in the last game. I had it with Alex Ferguson; I had a disagreement and fall out and at Alex Ferguson’s last game at Old Trafford, he left me out of the squad for that reason.
“He’s almost just dropped the grenade and said he doesn’t trust and believe in Arne Slot and almost thrown his team-mates who are going to be there next season and let them have to deal with that as well and put them into a position.”
Salah has this season surrendered his standing as a guaranteed starter for Liverpool, netting just 12 goals in 40 outings. Rooney reckons that his post on Saturday was an effort to ‘vindicate himself’ after a ‘very poor’ campaign.
“I think he’s been very selfish in what he’s done in the two occasions,” the former England captain added. “It’s a shame and fans will be on his side, but I think when you look deeper into it and having been in a dressing room in a similar situation to that as well, Mo Salah knows exactly what he’s doing.
“That’s your manager. You can’t publicly disrespect him twice the way he has and get away with it. And that’s where if I was Arne Slot, I’d have to pull rank and just say, ‘listen, you’re not coming anywhere near the place on Sunday, whether you like it or not’. I really doubt he will do it, but I think he should.
“Of course he deserves a good send off but does he deserve it just for this? It’s the second time he’s done it. it’s just a shame to see one of the great icon of Premier League players leave the Premier League probably in this situation.”