Liverpool’s Mo Salah has left fans baffled after he appeared to deactivate his social media accounts.
The last communication on his Twitter account, which had close to 8m followers, was the following cryptic message: "2019 Resolution: Time to get in touch, for real."
Some have speculated that this may be in relation to his ongoing dispute with his national team federation Egypt.
The leader in the race for this year’s Golden Boot has had a range of issues with that body, not least when his image was used on the side of the national team’s plane during last summer's World Cup as part of an advertisement for a telecommunications brand, potentially jeopardising a personal deal he has with a rival company.
Others have suggested this may have something to do with the persistent accusations of diving that have been levelled at him on social media by fans of rival Premier League clubs, and that this move is an effort to quiet that noise.
Even former Premier League match official Mark Clattenburg got in on the action this week, giving his two cents.
“Salah was accused of going down easily to win penalties against Arsenal and Newcastle.
“In all these situations, he has no chance to score, so it seems he prefers to try to win a penalty.
“As he is Liverpool’s penalty taker, he will know winning a spot-kick means he has a free shot at goal."
Fans of the player on social media have been kicking around ideas as to why Salah has taken this course of action.
what is happening؟؟
😥😥
#lfc
@MoSalah