MLS chief tells Salah to contact Messi and discuss spectacular Liverpool exit route | OneFootball

MLS chief Don Garber has suggested Mohamed Salah should speak to Lionel Messi about the potential of a move to the USA amid a very uncertain future at Liverpool.

Some feel Salah has played his last game at Liverpool. If he has, it was a 45-minute outing during a 1-1 draw with Sunderland in the Premier League.

That was the second of three games he started on the bench, not getting any minutes in the other two, leading to the winger suggesting Liverpool have “thrown him under the bus.”

He wasn’t allowed to travel to face Inter Milan on Tuesday after his outburst and though he’s been recalled to the squad to face Brighton at the weekend, whether he’ll feature is another question.

If he has played his last game in Liverpool colours, the overwhelming favourite for his next destination is the Saudi Pro League, with interest in the Middle East not having gone away over the last year.

Saudi decision makers have been open with the admission that they’d love to welcome Salah there, and reports have suggested that’ll be possible if Liverpool are paid their asking price.

But there is also interest in the MLS, with commissioner Garber suggesting Salah speaks to big names including Messi to see what playing in the USA would be like.

Garber said: “Obviously, if [Salah] ever decides to come to Major League Soccer, we’d welcome him with open arms.

“I’d say he should reach out to Leo [Messi] and reach out to Thomas Muller and see how happy they’ve been and how successful they’ve been and how much they’ve really embraced being in Major League Soccer.”

Garber, though, is not confident that anyone will be able to prise Salah away from Liverpool given he’s still under contract until the summer of 2027.

He added: “I’ve seen some rumours about Mo Salah. We very much believe in the sanctity of a contract; that’s an American business dynamic. Mo’s under contract to Liverpool, people we know. It’s a great team.”

There could potentially an avenue, with American sports investigator Ben Harburg, who owns Al-Kholood, suggesting the Saudis might not be as open to Salah’s transfer as they were previously.

He said: “I do think there’s already, even amongst the public, much more apprehension around his coming into the league.

“He’s 33 years old, he got paid a boatload a year or so ago, whatever it was, and has underperformed massively since then.

“He doesn’t strike me as a great team player. As an owner, when I look at the way he behaved there, if a player isn’t performing, they’re not going to be in the starting lineup. We don’t put people in the starting lineup based on what they did three seasons ago or even last season.

“All that, to me, combines for a fairly toxic combination of factors. So I would rather he not come here.”