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As we approached 2025, the fear was that Liverpool would lose their talisman, an all-time great in the form of Mohamed Salah, on a free transfer.

Well, the Egyptian signed a new deal and closed out an enthralling individual season for the Reds. He led Arne Slot’s team to title glory, taking home the Premier League title back in May.

The foundations Slot had built during his maiden campaign in English football were remarkable but it’s all petered out in frantic fashion throughout the ongoing term.

A year on from uncertainty surrounding Salah’s future, a different sense of uncertainty lingers heading into 2026.

This time around it feels unlikely that he’ll be staying around at Anfield for much longer. It’s a sad end for one of the Premier League’s modern-day greats.

Why Mohamed Salah could leave Liverpool

The winger had an enthralling 2024/25 season, ending the year with a whopping 34 goals and 23 assists in 52 outings. However, this term has not been a pretty one for the Egyptian who has only bagged five times in 19 appearances for Liverpool.

Slot’s side have been in a rotten run and Salah’s poor form has coincided with that. He’s been so poor, however, that the Dutchman has taken the decision to select him on the bench across the last three games. As Salah himself said post-game, it’s unheard of.

However, there lies the problem. What Salah said after the game. He launched a stunning attack on Slot after Liverpool drew 3-3 with Leeds and it has thrown his immediate future in Merseyside into doubt.

“I’m very disappointed, Salah began. “I’ve done so much for this club – everyone can see that – over years, especially last season, sitting on the bench I don’t know why. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That’s how I feel it.”

The forward continued: “It’s very clear that someone wants me to get all the blame. Club promised me a lot in summer. So far I I’m on bench three games, so can’t say they have kept those promises.

“I say many times I had a good relationship with the manager and all of a sudden we don’t have any relationship, I don’t know why. It seems like someone does not want me in the club.

“But again this club, I always support it. my kids will always support it. I love the club so much and I will always do. I called my mum yesterday because I knew I wasn’t going to start and told my mum and dad to the Brighton game [next Saturday].”

The latest on Mohamed Salah's future at Liverpool

It’s thought that one of Salah’s main suitors continues to be Saudi Arabia and it would not be a surprise if he heads off to the Middle East before too long.

That’s because he’s now been totally excluded from the matchday squad for Liverpool’s clash with Inter Milan in the week.

According to Football FanCast sources, Richard Hughes and Co met after Salah made those comments and while it initially looked like he could just miss the clash with Inter, he has officially been removed from selection for a ‘short period’.

Sources suggest that the decision has been taken in consultation with manager Slot in the best interests of the player, the squad and the club. It’s thought that the boss has given the decision his full support.

Whether that means that Salah will miss Liverpool’s next league game against Brighton next Saturday remains to be seen but considering the attacker is due to head off to AFCON after that, it’s likely this is the last we’ll see of him in a Liverpool shirt, at least this year.

What the future holds in the long term is currently unknown but it’s certainly not looking good for either player or manager right now.

Gallery: How Salah interacted with Liverpool teammates in training on Monday

Mo Salah is unhappy with life at Liverpool right now.

ByFFC Staff Dec 8, 2025

Glasgow Rangers officially confirmed that both CEO Patrick Stewart and sporting director Kevin Thelwell left their roles at Ibrox on Monday after the club’s underwhelming start under the new ownership.

Chairman Andrew Cavenagh revealed that the ownership believes that they need different people in those roles in order to bring success back to Ibrox in the months and years to come.

Thelwell was let go by the Gers after he played a key role, as sporting director, in the appointment and firing of Russell Martin, as well as the signings throughout the summer transfer window.

The former Everton chief was given the funds to retool the squad for the head coach in the summer, but after that appointment and the signings he made, Rangers won one of their first eight Scottish Premiership matches.

However, Thelwell would be far from the first sporting director to make some mistakes in the transfer market. Former Gers technical director Nils Koppen, for example, made his fair share.

One signing that officially went through in the summer but was sanctioned before Thelwell’s arrival was the permanent addition of Oscar Cortes.

Why Oscar Cortes has been a waste of money for Rangers so far

The 21-year-old forward initially joined on loan from Lens for the second half of the 2023/24 campaign, and produced one goal and one assist in six games in the Premiership, per Sofascore.

That convinced the Scottish giants to sign him on a season-long loan with an obligation to make it permanent at the end of the season in the summer of 2024, which led to him signing for £4.5m earlier this year.

He is currently the ninth-most expensive signing in the history of the club, with that £4.5m move from Lens, and the Gers have simply not got enough back from him on the pitch to justify that expense.

In the 2024/25 season, the Colombian winger made ten appearances in the Premiership without delivering a single goal or assist for the team, whilst he also missed out on 22 matchday squads and was an unused substitute on six occasions, per Transfermarkt.

Despite his dismal form last term, Rangers had to sign him permanently for a hefty fee of £4.5m because it was an obligation that was put in place in the previous summer. That led to him leaving on loan to Sporting Gijon this season.

Appearances

5

Starts

1

Unused sub

6

Goals

0

Key passes per game

0.0

Big chances created

0

Assists

0

As you can see in the table above, Cortes has struggled badly in Spain since his temporary switch to the second division outfit, with more games left sat on the bench than appearances in LaLiga 2.

His lack of goal contributions for the Spanish side means that he still has not provided a goal or an assist since registering one of each in a 5-0 win over Hearts in February 2024.

With over three years left on his contract at Ibrox, it remains to be seen whether or not the 21-year-old whiz will make a success of his Rangers career or not, but it is not looking good on current evidence.

With his form for the Gers and out on loan, Cortes currently looks like a big waste of money for the significant fee that the club agreed to pay Lens for him, unfortunately.

Whilst Thelwell did not have any say in that move, it was going through irrespective of anything he did after becoming sporting director in April, one of his own summer signings looks to be an even bigger waste of money than Cortes.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The former Light Blues chief opted to splash the cash on Portugal U21 international Youssef Chermiti, and the early signs from his Ibrox career are far from promising.

Why Rangers should not have signed Youssef Chermiti

Thelwell agreed a deal with his former club Everton to sign the striker for a fee of £8m. That made him the most expensive signing made by the Gers since they signed Tore Andre Flo for £12m in 2000.

When signing a player for that kind of outlay at Ibrox, it is fair to expect that they should be able to make a relatively immediate impact for Rangers, even if they are not the finished product, because Chermiti is their most expensive signing in 25 years.

Unfortunately, though, the Portuguese marksman has failed to prove his worth to the Light Blues on the pitch with his performances so far in the 2025/26 campaign, with just one goal to his name so far.

The former Premier League flop has produced one goal and one assist in 13 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish giants, per Sofascore, which shows that he has not offered a regular threat at the top end of the pitch.

Chermiti’s form in the Premiership, in particular, has left quite a bit to be desired for a player who is the club’s most expensive signing in 25 years.

FotMob rating

6.48

16th

Goals

1

Joint-3rd

xG

0.3

14th

xA

0.2

15th

Dribbles per 90

0.4

14th

Dribble success rate

16.7%

14th

As you can see in the table above, the Portugal U21 international ranks poorly in the Gers squad in a host of key metrics, and the only reason that he ranks highly for goals is that only two players in the squad have scored more than one league goal.

Chermiti, who was described as a “nothing player” by Portuguese journalist Kevin Fernandes, has simply not done enough with the game time that he has been given, domestically or on the European stage.

The ex-Everton striker was signed for almost twice as much as Cortes and appears to be heading in the same direction as the winger, as another expensive flop who is unable to make a significant impact on the pitch for Rangers.

Therefore, Chermiti looks on course to be an even bigger waste of money than the Colombian forward because he cost £3.5m more and has been just as underwhelming at the start of his Ibrox career.

"Rotten" Thelwell signing is Rangers' biggest waste of time since Dowell

This summer signing by Kevin Thelwell has been as bad as the deal to bring Kieran Dowell to Rangers.

ByDan Emery Nov 26, 2025

Shakib Al Hasan will not play for Bangladesh again, the country’s sports advisor Asif Mahmud has declared, after the cricketer put up a social media post on Sunday wishing deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on her birthday.It started with Shakib posting a simple message, to which Asif responded – though not with Shakib’s name – with: “All of you have abused me a lot for not rehabilitating one person. But I was right. End of the discussion.”Shakib went next, posting: “So someone has finally accepted that it’s because of him that I can never put on the Bangladesh jersey again, because of whom I can’t play for Bangladesh again. Maybe I will return to my motherland one day. Love you, Bangladesh.”There were more messages out in public, before Asif spoke to the Dhaka-based , saying he would instruct the BCB not to select Shakib again. He said that Shakib was “intricately involved with Awami League’s politics”.”We cannot let him carry the Bangladesh flag,” Asif said. “It won’t be possible for me to allow him to wear the Bangladesh jersey. Maybe I haven’t told the BCB before, but now my clear direction for the BCB would be that Shakib Al Hasan can never again play for Bangladesh.”The number of times he has asked to enter the country, to play for Bangladesh, he had said that the Awami League had given him the [2024 general election] nomination forcibly. He claimed that he was not involved in politics. He wanted to become an MP to work for the people of his area [Magura]. The truth, however, is that he is intricately involved in Awami League’s politics.”Shakib claimed that he had wished Hasina since they had known each other before he had joined politics and that the post wasn’t intended to instigate anyone.”She [Hasina] has always followed cricket seriously – isn’t that right,” he said. “She was deeply involved with cricket. We had a relationship through that, even before politics. I wished her from that point of view. There was no other motive, or trying to instigate anyone.”Shakib was an Awami League member of parliament from January to August last year before the government was ousted in a student-led revolution. Hasina fled to India on August 5, while Shakib, who was not in the country at the time, hasn’t returned home. He played Tests against Pakistan and India last year, but has not been picked in the national team in the last 12 months even as he has continued to play in franchise leagues elsewhere.

Shohei Ohtani sees similarities between himself and Francisco Lindor.

The Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was asked about the New York Mets shortstop on Tuesday, one day before Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, and opened by complimenting him. Then he claimed he felt the two of them were on the same level as far as leading their teams in the MLB playoffs.

"My impression of him is that he's a really good guy. He smiles a lot. I do feel like he's leading his club as well," Ohtani said.

"Both of us are in this position, what we did in the regular season is over. What matters is what we produce during the postseason. I do feel like we're perhaps connected in the same sense."

Ohtani clearly has a lot of admiration for Lindor and sees them as being in similar situations

For his part, Lindor said he really like's Ohtani's cleats.

Both players had great seasons, but Ohtani is expected to win the National League MVP award, likely unanimously. He fished the season slashing .310/.390/.646, with an OPS of 1.036, 54 home runs and 59 stolen bases, becoming the first 50/50 player in MLB history. Lindor had quite a season himself, slashing .273/.344/.500 with 33 home runs and 91 RBIs. He helped lead the Mets' furious second-half charge to the postseason.

The Dodgers and Mets enter Game 3 tied at 1-1, and how their two MVP candidates perform could dictate who wins the series.

“After the dismissal, Siraj celebrated close to the batter in his follow-through and made contact as Duckett began his walk back,” the ICC said in a statement

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jul-2025

Mohammed Siraj got up close to Ben Duckett after dismissing him•Associated Press

Mohammed Siraj’s animated reaction after dismissing Ben Duckett, which included a bump of bodies as the batter walked back, has earned him a 15% match-fee fine as well as a demerit point – his second in a 24-month period.Tempers had flared on the third evening of the ongoing third Test at Lord’s when the Indians appeared aggrieved at Duckett’s opening partner Zak Crawley’s attempts at what they felt was time-wasting. Duckett fell pulling Siraj to mid-on fifth over of the fourth morning, and Siraj’s celebrations including a few roars, staring and shouting in Duckett’s direction, and, as they got close to one another, a brush of bodies. And ICC statement spelt it out, saying, “After the dismissal, Siraj celebrated close to the batter in his follow-through and made contact as Duckett began his walk back to the Lord’s long room”.That meant a breach of Article 2.5 of the ICC’s code of conduct for international players, which relates to “using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal”.