Selfish Salah should be dropped from Anfield finale - Rooney

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been "selfish" and should be dropped from the squad for the Reds' final match of the season against Brentford at Anfield, says former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney. Salah said Liverpool must return to being a "heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear" after a 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa which left their Champions League place in doubt. "That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good.

It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it," he said in a social media post that has been seen as a criticism of Slot. Egypt forward Salah, 33, will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after scoring 257 goals and helping the club to six major trophies in nine years - but Rooney said he would drop him for Sunday's farewell. He told the Wayne Rooney Show: "I find it sad at the end of what he's done and what he's achieved at Liverpool . It's not the point for him to come out and aim another dig at Slot. "He wants to play heavy metal football, so he's basically saying he wants Jurgen Klopp football. Now I don't think Mo Salah can cope with that type of football any more. I think his legs have gone to play at that high tempo and high intensity. "If I was Arne Slot, I'd have him nowhere near the stadium in the last game. I had a disagreement and fallout and at Alex Ferguson's last game at Old Trafford, he left me out of the squad for that reason. "He's almost just dropped the grenade and said he doesn't trust and believe in Arne Slot and almost thrown his team-mates who are going to be there next season and let them have to deal with that as well and put them into a position." Salah, who announced his decision to leave Anfield in March, told reporters in December that his relationship with head coach Slot had broken down. The winger, winner of a record four Premier League Golden Boot awards, scored 29 times in the 2024-25 Premier League as the Reds won the title in Slot's first season in charge. But he has been unable to match the heights of last term, finding the net just 12 times in 40 games in a season that sees the defending champions languishing in fifth in the Premier League.

Key points

• It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it," he said in a social media post that has been seen as a criticism of Slot.
• Egypt forward Salah, 33, will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after scoring 257 goals and helping the club to six major trophies in nine years - but Rooney said he would drop him for Sunda…
• He told the Wayne Rooney Show: "I find it sad at the end of what he's done and what he's achieved at Liverpool .
• It's not the point for him to come out and aim another dig at Slot.
• "He wants to play heavy metal football, so he's basically saying he wants Jurgen Klopp football.