Mohamed Salah ‘threatened to leave Liverpool’ after learning of club’s stance

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is said to have once threatened to leave the club over Anfield's alleged interest in Israeli national Mu'nas Dabbur.

Salah has been in stunning form for the Reds this season and looks to lead Arne Slot's side to victory in the Premier League and Champions League. The Egyptian played another key role as Liverpool put Manchester City to the sword with a goal on Sunday, assisting in a comfortable 2-0 win that left the club nine points clear at the top of the table.

However, Salah's ongoing off-field contract saga generates as many headlines as his on-pitch performances. The 32-year-old is entering the final six months of his legendary time at Liverpool as an impasse over his contract extension appears to have been reached.

Despite the writing appearing to be on the wall for Liverpool fans, Salah and his agent Ramy Abbas Issa have a history of power plays to ensure the forward gets what he wants before signing on the dotted line. Such a game was once said to have surfaced in 2018, when Salah reportedly alarmed his club's hierarchy by warning he could quit if Dabbur was signed.

Salah's fame at Liverpool soared at the time, with the player leading the club to the Champions League final and keeping the Reds in a fierce title battle with City. His new position as the club's star man was perhaps best used when he reportedly tried to dictate the club's transfer policy.

Salah has had a checkered history with Israeli players, thanks to the fractured relationship between Israel and Palestine. In 2013, while playing for FC Basel, the winger avoided the handshake before the match against Israeli Premier League team Maccabi Tel Aviv by changing his boots at the side of the pitch. However, Basel claimed it was a coincidence.

In the second leg in Israel, Salah opted for a unique fist bump instead of the traditional handshake. He was subsequently booed by Maccabi fans in a subsequent match.

Salah also claimed he was forced to play in the game. In a 2014 interview, he said: “The club (Basel) told me that if I don't go, I will be suspended and there will be a lot of problems. So I went and thank God I scored.”

According to Israel's official Arabic Twitter account at the time (@IsraelArabic), Salah was considering walking away from Liverpool if Dabbur joined. “Mohamed Salah is not the first Egyptian footballer to refuse normalization with Israel,” wrote Palestinian journalist Lina Khattab via Alarabiya News.

The reference was to former Egyptian Mohamed Abu Trieka, who in 2008 took off his shirt to reveal another shirt that read 'In solidarity with Gaza'. Khattab added: “Mohamed Salah threatened to leave Liverpool if Israeli player Mu'nas Dabbur joins the team, without worrying about the consequences.”

However, those closest to Salah said that as a professional it is not his concern which club bosses choose to sign. Yet the reports continued to pour in.

Hagay Hacohen of the Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli media as saying: “Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah has reportedly threatened to leave Premier League football club Liverpool if Arab-Israeli footballer Mu'nas Dabbur joins the team.”

In response to growing interest in the issue, former Egyptian national team head coach Mahmoud Fayez stated that Salah would not, in fact, be leaving Liverpool. “Before this becomes a trend, Mohamed Salah is a professional player and is not interested in whether Liverpool sign an Israeli or not,” he wrote on his Twitter account.

Former Red Bull Salzburg striker Dabbur never signed for the club. However, Salah's commitment to Liverpool was unquestioned as he won the Champions League and Premier League with the Reds in the following two years.