Mohamed Salah must avoid Liverpool transfer "travesty" in January as Arne Slot sent telling top-four message

By Ben Knapton | 13 Dec 2025 17:28

Salah must avoid Liverpool transfer "travesty" as Slot sent telling top-four message

Written by David Lynch, Liverpool expert:

It is not just because of Joe Gomez's sketchy fitness record that you knew Mohamed Salah was going to have some say in Liverpool's meeting with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

After a tempestuous week kickstarted by the Egyptian's incendiary comments regarding his future at Leeds United, it was not until Friday that it was even known he would be in the squad for this one.

But, once that news was confirmed, the power of an appealing narrative meant a telling contribution was always going to come from the Reds' No.11, who replaced the injured Gomez early in the first half.

It arrived in the form of a corner delivery straight onto Hugo Ekitike's head that resulted in a goal thanks in no small part due to some shocking Brighton marking.

Yet it had a significance beyond simply doubling the Reds' lead and helping them to follow up a win over Inter Milan in a manner that has so often been beyond them this season.

For Arne Slot, this was proof that his side can still be balanced with Salah in it, and that his highest-paid player is still capable of providing goals and assists.

Liverpool 2-0 Brighton: Mohamed Salah urged to avoid transfer "travesty"

The player himself will also feel buoyed to have made that point, and heads to the Africa Cup of Nations perhaps feeling he can be a key man upon returning.

Ultimately, it would be a travesty if his story at Anfield were to end in sneaking out the back door in January, rather than a proper send-off.

Clearly, even if things are not quite as perfect as they have been over the last eight-and-a-half years, both Salah and Liverpool can make this relationship work between now and the end of the campaign.

To that end, you would hope that the lap of Anfield and applause to the crowd that followed full time was simply a case of a see-you-later focused on an imminent departure to AFCON.

Any sort of permanent goodbye should surely be reserved until the summer, when Liverpool might well find themselves back in the top four if this recent resurgence is to continue.

That certainly seems easier to imagine with Salah in the squad than it does without.