Mohamed Salah's Future at Liverpool: A Power Struggle Unfolds
Mohamed Salah is suddenly back at the heart of Liverpool’s future – but only on his terms.
The club’s disastrous 2025/26 campaign has dragged almost everyone into the dock, and the Egyptian is no exception. The title defence that was supposed to cement Liverpool’s status as a modern powerhouse has instead unravelled into a season of 20 defeats, flat performances and a style of play that has left supporters cold.
At the centre of the storm: Salah and head coach Arne Slot.
A broken relationship
Salah’s form has slumped dramatically from last season’s levels. He is not alone in that, but when Liverpool’s talisman dips, the whole team feels it. Slot, meanwhile, has faced fierce criticism for an approach many inside and outside the club see as cautious, predictable and utterly at odds with the high-octane football that became Liverpool’s identity.
The tension between the pair has been no secret. Salah reacted badly after slipping down the pecking order, and the situation deteriorated to the point where it was announced he would leave on a free transfer this summer, despite still having a year left on his deal.
Over the weekend, the forward went public with his frustration. He took aim at Slot’s style and openly called for a return to “heavy metal attacking football” – a pointed reference to the relentless, aggressive approach that defined Liverpool’s recent glory years.
For a while, the path seemed clear. Contract running down. Relationship fractured. A summer exit agreed as the cleanest solution for all involved.
Then the story twisted.
Salah’s U-turn – but with conditions
According to The Athletic, Salah has privately shown a willingness to reconsider his departure. The door, which looked bolted shut, is not completely closed.
Yet there is a catch. A big one.
The report states that some of Salah’s associates in Egypt have been suggesting he has “not totally given up” on staying at Liverpool, despite the recent announcements. But any chance of a U-turn, they indicate, would require a “regime change”.
That starts with Slot.
For Salah to remain, the head coach would need to go. Not just him, either. The same report points towards the directors who have backed Slot – figures who, like the coach, are also entering the final year of their contracts. Their departure, too, is framed as part of the reset Salah would want to see.
In simple terms: Salah is open to staying at Liverpool, but only if the club moves on from the man currently in the dugout and the hierarchy that appointed and supported him.
FSG stand by Slot – for now
The timing is striking. On Monday morning, a report from TEAMtalk claimed that Liverpool’s owners, FSG, had begun to rethink Slot’s position, with Salah’s outburst after Friday’s defeat to Aston Villa said to have “triggered” internal discussions and led to four possible replacements being considered.
Yet the message from those close to the ownership has been very different.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano insisted that FSG are still behind their head coach.
“They want to support Arne Slot, believe in Arne Slot,” he said, underlining the current stance in Boston.
No one inside the club is pretending this season has been anything other than grim. Romano referenced “20 defeats” and football that simply has not been good enough. Results have been poor, performances worse, and the atmosphere around the team increasingly toxic.
Even so, the line from the top remains clear: the owners and senior management are the ones making the decisions, and, up to this weekend, Liverpool had not reached out to any other coach. Not to Xabi Alonso. Not to anyone.
“At the moment, Liverpool didn’t call Xabi Alonso because they believe in Arne Slot,” Romano added.
A power struggle in plain sight
Strip away the noise and the situation looks stark.
On one side, a manager the owners still publicly back, even as the season collapses around him. On the other, the club’s most iconic modern player, prepared to rip up his exit plan if the dugout – and parts of the boardroom – are cleared out.
This is no minor dressing-room disagreement. It is a fault line running straight through Liverpool’s future.
If FSG hold their nerve with Slot, they risk waving goodbye to Salah on a free and leaning fully into a project that has yet to convince anyone it can deliver trophies. If they side with Salah’s conditions, they would be tearing up their own blueprint after one wretched season and starting again – likely with a new coach, a reworked hierarchy and a 33-year-old superstar still at the centre of it all.
For now, the club insists it has not spoken to alternative candidates. The owners insist they still “believe in Arne Slot”.
Salah, though, has made his stance just as clear.
Liverpool can keep their manager. Or they can keep their legend. The question hanging over Anfield is whether they can really keep both.
