Pundit Paul Merson has leapt to the defence of Mohamed Salah and has shut down an accusation about the Liverpool forward.

Salah‘s future at Liverpool is in doubt as it is unclear whether he will feature for the Premier League giants against Brighton, which is his last game before the African Cup of Nations.

This follows the forward’s remarkable outburst against Liverpooland head coach Arne Slot, in which he claimed thathe had been “thrown under the bus”.?

Salah is under contract until 2027, but the Reds may decide to cash in if bridges cannot be rebuilt and he has plenty of transfer options.

Several Saudi Pro League and European sides have been linked with Salah, who could also head to the MLS.

Now,?MLS commissioner Don Garber has sent a message to Salah regarding a possible move to the United States.

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

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“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.”

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.”

Merson has also gone against the grain and defended Salah, shutting down an accusation about him ‘not tracking back during games’.

‘Life moves on quite quickly in the Premier League. But I can’t believe the amount of stick Mohamed Salah is getting for his comments,’ Merson wrote for Sportskeeda.

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‘Let’s not forget that he could have walked away on a free transfer last summer, but he chose to stay with Liverpool. He hasn’t refused to play football, he just wants to play more often!

‘I know maybe he could have gone about expressing his concerns in a different way. But we’re all human and it happens at times. I play Sunday morning football with my mates. People go mental if they get subbed in them games. So why can’t Salah be unhappy with his situation at Liverpool? There are other players in that team who haven’t been good enough but none of them were dropped like Salah.

‘Some people accuse Salah of not tracking back during games. He didn’t do that last season either. Salah is just a human being who has come out and been honest about his situation. He’s 33 and signed a two-year contract with Liverpool because he wanted to play football. I know he’s on a ￡400,000 per week contract but he could have got that or more if he decided to go to Saudi Arabia. So it’s not about the money here.

‘I’ve seen players refusing to play for their clubs and none of them ever received this much stick. It’s not entirely his fault.’