Mohamed Salah emerged from the corridor leading out of the London stadium, deep in conversation with David Moyes.
As the West Ham United manager put a hand on his shoulder and they said goodbye, Salah was joined by a member of Liverpool’s security staff for the short walk to the team bus.
He was passed by a group of journalists eager to reflect on an unseemly touchline altercation with his own manager, Jurgen Klopp, as he waited to be introduced from the bench with 11 minutes left in Saturday’s 2-2 draw.
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So, nothing to see here? All water under the bridge? Salah clearly didn’t get the memo.
It is standard practice for him to refuse interview requests – he stopped after the match to speak to the British press only twice in almost seven years as a Liverpool player – but this wasn’t the usual smiling response of: “Not today, thanks “.
Without slowing his pace, he said, “There will be fire today if I speak.”
The words were spoken matter-of-factly.
“Fire?” Atletico churches.
“Of course,” he replied.
After his manager tried to douse the flames, Salah poured petrol on the flames.
There didn’t need to be “fire”. She could have taken the opportunity to downplay the altercation. Better yet, she could have publicly apologized for the disrespect shown to Klopp. He did neither.
Salah and Klopp argue on the touchline (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
After a miserable few weeks that saw Liverpool’s title challenge disintegrate, it was another sad sight on Klopp’s farewell tour.
For context, Salah was added to the club’s management group last summer because he was seen as a role model for the team’s youth. And what happened yesterday wasn’t a brief moment of petulance. It lasted more than a minute.
The flashpoint began with Salah, annoyed at being on the bench for so long, appearing reluctant to shake Klopp’s hand as he prepared to come on. Words were exchanged before Klopp found fellow substitutes Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez more willing to embrace him.
As the incident continued, Klopp initially walked away and focused his attention on the pitch, before turning back towards Salah and getting something else off his chest.
What followed was completely unacceptable as Salah, usually so mild-mannered, vented his anger at his manager, raising his arms and pointing in Klopp’s direction. It took Nunez, the unlikeliest of peacemakers, to calm his teammate.
A heated exchange between Mohamed Salah and Jürgen Klopp on the sideline shortly before West Ham’s equalizer 😳
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Just to cap off a bleak few minutes, Michail Antonio nodded West Ham level before the triple substitution could be made.
At the final whistle, Salah was the first Liverpool player to leave the pitch, briefly directing some applause towards the away sideline, before ruffling his hair and disappearing into the tunnel. This was the day the frustration that had been gradually building within him exploded.
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Salah’s tenacity has been as remarkable as his goalscoring exploits since arriving at Anfield from Roma in the summer of 2017. He missed just 10 league games in his first six seasons at Liverpool.
He has missed a lot more playing time than usual this season. A hamstring injury at the Africa Cup of Nations on 18 January kept him out until the trip to Brentford a month later. Then he suffered another breakdown and spent another three weeks on the sidelines and was unavailable for the Carabao Cup final victory on 25 February.
Since returning to action in early March, he has scored just five goals in 13 appearances, including two from penalties. During that damaging period, Liverpool were eliminated from the FA Cup and Europa League, and have now abandoned the title race.
In three of the last six matches, Salah has been named on the bench. Just look at how he reacted to the substitution in the match to understand how much it hurts not to be included in the starting eleven.
But the harsh reality is that he can’t complain about being neglected in recent times.
He didn’t press as he should have in possession, his touch let him down several times and, in the final third, it was wasted. He seemed like a player lacking pace and confidence.
Salah has been a shadow of his former self of late (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Sorting out Salah’s future is one of the most pressing items in potential new manager Arne Slot’s inbox as he prepares to take over from Klopp this summer.
It’s a real dilemma. We are talking about one of the greatest players in the club’s history; a striker who is fifth on Liverpool’s all-time goalscorers list with 210 goals in 346 games and is still their top scorer this season with 24 goals in all competitions. He became the first Liverpool player to score more than 20 goals in all competitions in seven consecutive seasons.
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It would be premature to describe his collapse as evidence that he is a force in decline but, as he both turns 32 and enters the final year of his contract this offseason, it would be a sizable gamble to offer another lucrative extension to someone earning over £350,000 ($437,145) a week.
Last August, Liverpool rejected a bid of £100 million, potentially rising to £150 million with add-ons, for Salah from Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad, largely because they did not have enough time to find a suitable replacement. If a similar offer were to arrive much earlier, in the summer period, they would certainly be tempted to cash in, given their self-sustaining business model.
Much will depend on Salah himself.
Is he ready to say goodbye to elite football in Europe and head to Saudi Arabia? There is a school of thought that he would prefer to sit out the final year of his contract and then leave as a free agent in 2025, when he could command a huge entry fee.
Maybe a real break in the next few months and then a fresh start, apparently under Slot, will get him fired again.
But Salah must reflect on what happened yesterday at the London Stadium, because he disappointed himself. If he had anything to vent about, it would have to happen behind closed doors.
Klopp elevated Salah to a global icon at Anfield – his outgoing manager deserved better.
Liverpool’s remaining matches: Tottenham (h) 5 May; Aston Villa (a) 13 May; Wolves (h) May 19th.
(Top photo: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)