HOT: LIVERPOOL HAVE DECIDED TO LET MOHAMED SALAH LEAVE THE CLUB after hours of negotiations. Slot must prepare for the scenario in which Liverpool lose one of their strongest pieces as early as this December. The reason behind the sudden departure has now been revealed.

Liverpool have been thrown into chaos after sources close to the club confirmed that Mohamed Salah will leave the squad earlier than expected, following hours of intensive discussions between Anfield officials and representatives of the Egyptian national team. While the club has not issued an outright public farewell, the internal decision has already been made: Salah will depart in mid-December, weeks ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, leaving Arne Slot to navigate the most fragile phase of his tenure without the player who has shaped Liverpool’s identity for nearly a decade.

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What started as routine coordination over AFCON preparations quickly escalated into a negotiation that Liverpool never wanted to confront this early. Egypt requested Salah’s release for a December friendly before the tournament officially begins, and after prolonged talks, the Reds accepted terms that will see their star forward unavailable for more than a month. This means he will miss the Premier League clash with Brighton on December 13 and the full stretch of Christmas fixtures — a period that often defines the trajectory of a season. For a Liverpool side already crumbling under pressure, the timing could not be worse.

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But the real shock came from the club’s reaction. Instead of resisting or seeking compromise, insiders reveal that Liverpool’s sporting leadership viewed the situation as an opportunity — a chance to assess what the team truly looks like without Salah, at a moment when his influence on the pitch has fallen dramatically. The Egyptian has scored just twice in the Premier League since mid-September and has not produced an assist in any competition for more than two months. Once the undroppable centrepiece of the attack, he has now become the face of a frontline struggling to find rhythm, intensity and identity.

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Behind the scenes, concerns have been growing at Melwood. Salah’s difficulty adapting to Slot’s defensive demands has attracted criticism from pundits like Wayne Rooney, who openly called for the forward to be dropped. Jamie Carragher added fuel to the fire by questioning why Salah has remained silent during Liverpool’s spiral, suggesting that a player of his stature should be speaking publicly to steady the dressing room. These comments did not go unnoticed, and within the club, the combination of poor form, mounting scrutiny and the approaching AFCON deadline created a scenario in which the manager was forced to look ahead.

Slot, who inherited the daunting task of maintaining Liverpool’s elite standards while rebuilding the squad, has reportedly been preparing a contingency plan for weeks. Several sources claim he has identified Salah’s temporary replacement, though confidence in that transition remains low. Liverpool recruited Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz in the summer to inject new firepower, but the trio still appear disjointed and inconsistent. Wirtz showed flashes of brilliance from the right-hand side in the Champions League win over Frankfurt, yet the club understands that depending on him to replicate Salah’s production is unrealistic. The system is still unstable, the chemistry incomplete, and the pressure immense.

The situation grows more complicated when considering Liverpool’s relationship with the Egyptian Football Association, which remains positive. Egypt’s technical director, Ibrahim Hassan, confirmed that conversations with Liverpool and Manchester City have been ongoing to finalise arrangements for December call-ups. To the outside world, this suggests a cooperative exchange. Internally, however, it signals something else entirely: Liverpool have accepted that Salah will be gone for an extended period, and their focus has already shifted to survival without him.

For supporters, the emotional weight of the moment is difficult to ignore. Salah is not just another player leaving for international duty; he is the symbol of Liverpool’s modern era, the architect of European nights, title races and unforgettable comebacks. But the club now finds itself in a dangerous transitional phase, where results are poor, confidence is fragile, and tactical cohesion is slipping. Losing their most iconic attacker — even temporarily — at such a low point makes the situation feel like a crisis unfolding in slow motion.

Yet the most unsettling detail lies in the whispers surrounding Salah’s long-term future. The expectation among many at Anfield is that he will leave the club permanently within the next 18 months. This December, then, is more than a routine international departure; it is a preview of the Liverpool that will exist when the Salah era officially ends. Slot’s decisions in the coming weeks may shape the direction of the club long after the Egyptian’s final appearance in red.

The sudden nature of this departure has stunned fans, and though the official reason remains wrapped in formal language — early AFCON preparation — those inside Anfield understand the deeper truth. Liverpool are not simply losing a player for a month. They are entering the first chapter of life without Mohamed Salah, ready or not.