‘If I was Arne Slot…’ – Wayne Rooney tells Liverpool boss what he must do after Salah bombshell

Wayne Rooney has called on Arne Slot to ‘show his authority’ after Mo Salah’s explosive outburst on Saturday night.

Speaking after he was left on the bench for the entirety of Liverpool’s kamikaze 3-3 draw at Leeds, the winger claimed (via Sky Sports) that his relationship with the head coach has disintegrated and that ‘someone doesn’t want me in the club’.

The 33-year-old hasn’t started any of the Reds’ last three matches, playing just 45 minutes of a possible 270, and first appeared to show signs of frustration when benched for the 5-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in October.

Rooney: Slot can’t pick Salah this week after angry tirade

In the latest episode of The Wayne Rooney Show, the former Everton striker has implored Slot to rule Salah out of contention for our matches against Inter Milan and Brighton this week and allow him to team up with Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which begins just before Christmas.

The 40-year-old said: “Arne Slot has to show his authority and just pull him in and say, ‘Listen, you are not travelling with the team. What you said is not acceptable. Take yourself off to the Africa Cup of Nations and let everything calm down.’

“If Slot keeps him in the squad, there will be questions. If I was Arne Slot, there’s no way I’d have him anywhere near the team.

“He’s going to have the protection from next week of being away with Egypt. His timing on it, he has done for a reason – very premeditated, what he has done. He has done it so he can drop that bombshell and then go away with Egypt.

“That will be a good thing for Liverpool, to get him out of the way with what’s happened and focus on the new players.”

Will Liverpool let Salah depart for AFCON earlier than expected?

Liverpool aren’t mandated to release Salah for AFCON until next Monday, and in the previous two instances of his Anfield career when the tournament has been held mid-season, it would’ve been incomprehensible that he’d have been allowed to leave until the last permissible moment.

However, having been benched for our last three matches, and after his explosive comments on Saturday night, it’s entirely plausible that Slot could give the green light for the winger to team up with Egypt this week and lessen the distraction around the Inter Milan and Brighton games.

If the head coach has no intention of selecting the 33-year-old for those two matches, it may be in everyone’s best interests to allow the player to get away from the current storm on Merseyside and focus his efforts on his national team.

Salah’s upcoming AFCON absence might at least allow for the tension to cool off over the festive period as Liverpool strive to pull themselves out of the mire in which they’ve found themselves results-wise, even if it’s just a case of kicking the can down the road until he returns from Morocco in the New Year.

Unlikely as it may seem for now, we can only hope that the parties involved can resolve their differences amicably and that the Anfield career of one of the Reds’ greatest-ever players won’t merely fade out to an acrimonious anti-climax.

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