In a season already teetering on the edge of implosion, Liverpool woke up yesterday to the most damaging leak yet.
A thirty-second voice note, allegedly recorded by Mohamed Salah in a private WhatsApp group shared with three close Egyptian friends, was leaked to a popular Cairo-based football podcast just after midnight UK time. Within minutes it was everywhere.
By dawn it had been played more than eight million times across TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, and the phrase “like a brother” was the most searched term on Google in the United Kingdom.
Within an hour the finger pointed overwhelmingly at one man: Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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The theory detonated because of timing and history. Trent and Salah have shared the right flank for seven seasons, their telepathy producing 47 direct goal involvements for each other (more than any other player partnership in Premier League history). Off the pitch they have been photographed on holiday together in Mykonos and Dubai, Salah attending Trent’s birthday parties, Trent publicly calling Mo “the best player I’ve ever played with”. Yet cracks have appeared this season. Alexander-Arnold, in the final year of his contract and heavily linked with Real Madrid, has reportedly grown frustrated at carrying perceived defensive lapses while Salah’s minutes are fiercely protected. Eyewitnesses claim the two barely spoke after the 3-3 draw at Leeds, with Trent allegedly telling friends Salah’s “ego is killing the team”.
By 9 a.m. yesterday, #TrentTraitor was the top trending topic worldwide. Dozens of slowed-down training clips were posted showing the pair refusing to celebrate together, Trent rolling his eyes when Salah overhit a pass, Salah ignoring Trent’s call for a one-two against Inter Milan. One viral montage, set to haunting oud music, racked up 14 million views in six hours.
Liverpool’s media department went into full lockdown. Neither player reported for optional recovery yesterday; both were “given the day off to be with family”, according to the club’s terse statement. Arne Slot, due to preview the Manchester City game, cancelled his press conference entirely (an almost unheard-of move). Instead, a 41-second video was posted on the club’s channels showing Virgil van Dijk addressing the camera: “Whatever you think you know, you don’t. We are together. We fix this inside these walls like we always have. Thank you.”
But the damage was done. Former players waded in. Jamie Carragher tweeted, then deleted: “If this is true it’s the saddest day I’ve ever known as a Liverpool fan.” Rio Ferdinand called it “ dressing-room cancer”. Even Cristiano Ronaldo, from Saudi Arabia, posted a simple broken-heart emoji that was interpreted as solidarity with Salah.
In Egypt, the reaction bordered on national mourning. Cafes in Cairo played the voice note on loop. One prominent imam used Friday prayers to warn about “the danger of envy among brothers”. Salah’s father, usually silent, was photographed leaving the family home in Nagrig shielding his face from cameras.
Late last night a second, shorter voice note (this time in English) surfaced from what appears to be the same chat. Salah, calmer now, says: “Ignore the last message. I was angry and I spoke from pain. Whatever happens, Liverpool is my home and these boys are my family. I love them even when it hurts.”https://googleads.g.doubleclick.net/pagead/ads?client=ca-pub-3619133031508264&output=html&h=393&adk=288388914&adf=835531586&pi=t.aa~a.3364251867~i.36~rp.4&daaos=1765446938907&w=393&lmt=1765528543&rafmt=1&armr=3&sem=mc&pwprc=9667795885&ad_type=text_image&format=393×393&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheinsightjournal.com%2Fbtvphuonganh2%2Fi-thought-he-was-like-a-brother-but-now-ive-seen-his-true-colors-mohamed-salahs-alleged-revelation-of-a-shocking-betrayal-at-liverpool-sends-fans%2F&fwr=1&pra=3&rh=305&rw=365&rpe=1&resp_fmts=3&sfro=1&wgl=1&aieuf=1&aicrs=1&fa=27&abgtt=6&dt=1765528502268&bpp=1&bdt=2612&idt=0&shv=r20251211&mjsv=m202512100101&ptt=9&saldr=aa&abxe=1&cookie=ID%3Dc5066550e7c56fb9%3AT%3D1765527721%3ART%3D1765528501%3AS%3DALNI_MbE2XRs-03LZ1ero-pOpBx5GwLWiQ&gpic=UID%3D000012a10fbe7259%3AT%3D1765527721%3ART%3D1765528501%3AS%3DALNI_Ma_vPo_CN_FxscvMYitHo3_Dt-_Fw&eo_id_str=ID%3D6c54c103583b9fb1%3AT%3D1765527721%3ART%3D1765528501%3AS%3DAA-AfjZ8IUL1DCNiRButnb7-AVlg&prev_fmts=0x0%2C393x393%2C393x393%2C393x393%2C393x393%2C393x393%2C393x393%2C393x415%2C393x393%2C393x651&nras=7&correlator=2499293436064&frm=20&pv=1&u_tz=60&u_his=3&u_h=896&u_w=414&u_ah=896&u_aw=414&u_cd=24&u_sd=3&adx=0&ady=6923&biw=393&bih=765&scr_x=0&scr_y=1575&eid=31096041%2C95376241%2C95379871&oid=2&psts=AOrYGsnES6zSoxsvzV1dbbpwIoVjihZFLBWYqfTqCWklYAHrP_vvkqRkYgn3mcqAE0w4pb-g6hORpn7GpbhWd0dPwPyDFx18IyWLNSZy7WYbeQAPlUFkoLqy8s2RYuGXGs0Lv_0U%2CAOrYGsmFI_87fsTw54Y-ZRN9dV8AhoJNFJkGd4scOkZwlaaCgpHza5NCWvUti7VuOuVc-Svg9u-dZZp1awa0KdxnEV7CF_Cqw_Z9Hcu9Xi5R76REgA%2CAOrYGsm3wcbcAdD_eCh_yOOyYw-desikAOj6GjlF-m3jtAjWu5M5BoTDCmceQlWXbqiBt6TZnAPopS92m-YyxSdgc5870xhwYDKKEfBdnhveIcHG%2CAOrYGsmDlfoPZXhgBLBgf7mJ2Q1T-QZJqbm7ioHfipWIFKk9i4iaWSzL7TOkLIUiiTPZV7erwb-x3mbpblJYr4EbmyMz8llnQ2icOVCjKtO2WF90fQ&pvsid=4999347057588047&tmod=1282786221&uas=1&nvt=1&fc=1408&brdim=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C414%2C0%2C393%2C765%2C393%2C765&vis=1&rsz=%7C%7Cs%7C&abl=NS&fu=128&bc=31&bz=1&pgls=CAEaAzYuOQ..&num_ads=1&ifi=7&uci=a!7&btvi=8&fsb=1&dtd=41112
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Whether that was damage control or genuine contrition, the scar tissue is already forming. Sources inside Melwood say senior players held a two-hour crisis meeting without staff present. One player reportedly told friends: “We either come out of this as brothers for life or we lose the league (there is no middle).”
Tonight at the Etihad, 3,000 travelling Kopites will sing both men’s names louder than ever, desperate to drown out the poison. But every touch, every pass, every glance between Salah and Alexander-Arnold will be dissected like never before.
Eight years of glory, built on a right flank that felt indestructible, now balances on the edge of a 30-second voice note and two words none of us ever wanted to hear: true colors.
