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It’s a rainy Tuesday night in Liverpool. It was supposed to be a quiet newsweek for all things LFC. Then, at 6.33pm, Mohamed Salah announces his imminent departure. Put down your forks, because dinner time has suddenly become a lot more serious.
He arrived with sceptics, similar to almost every signing ever. Known on these shores for a failed Chelsea stint, where Jose Mourinho threw him into the loan ranks, many doubted he was the missing piece in Klopp’s offensive puzzle. The end result, where we will reach on May 25th, has put all those opinions to deep shame.
Mo saw the bar, raised it, and raised it once more, in arguably the greatest debut season in the history of the Premier League. Nevertheless, the summer saw people insist he was to be a one-season wonder, and proved them wrong time, and time, and time again. This is a common trend in his Liverpool career, an attitude that will prevail until his final minute of being a Liverpool player.
Three time players’s player award. Two time African player of the year award. Two time Premier League Player of the Season. Four time golden boot winner. Three time FWA’s player of the year. Just some of the long list of accolades Salah will depart Anfield with, alongside two Premier League titles, a champions league victory in 2019, two league cups, an FA Cup, and a chance at the Champions League and the FA Cup still to go. It is simply undeniable Salah will leave Anfield as a legend, firmly in debates to be Liverpool’s greatest ever.
Alongside his almost endless list of honours, the context of this season and why now (painfully) makes sense for the Egyptian to depart. The numbers portray a different story for Salah, who has bagged 19 goals and assist in all competitions so far this season. Even in a deeply off season for him, he still tops the likes of Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Bryan Mbeumo.
Watching Salah though, it’s easy to disregard those stats. He would likely admit, like most at the club, he hasn’t been close to his best at any stage this season, as will the majority of his teammates that dominantly clinched league title number 20 last season. The 33-year-old was dropped in December shortly before his departure to AFCON, leading to an explosive post-match interview at Elland Road following a dramatic 3-3 draw with Leeds. He then proceeded to lead his nation to 4th, losing a penalty shootout to Nigeria in the third-place playoff.
After this, he failed to improve, as fans demanded more from him. They’ll continue to do that now, but with an entirely different meaning now.
More games. More touches. More good goals. More bad ones. More good moves. More bad ones. More minutes. More seconds. More time.
Salah’s departure represents more than just an iconic departure leaving. It continues the drawing to an end of Klopp’s era of heroes, which arguably started with Gini Wijnaldum in 2021. Divock Origi and Sadio Mané proceeded him in 2022, before greats like Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Fabinho and Bobby Firmino bowed out in 2023. 2024 saw Klopp himself call time on his stint in the dugout, with Joel Matip and Thiago joining him in retirement.
Trent Alexander-Arnold left for Spain last summer, alongside South American duo Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez left for pastures new. Salah, potentially alongside Ibrahima Konaté and Andy Robertson with their contracts currently set to expire at the end of June, seems the to be the next staple of that famous gegenpressing, heavy-metal side to bid farewell in the summer.
There’s no doubt Salah leaves a legacy of goals, success, happy times and glorious days. Though his final season will be a bitter pill to swallow for Liverpool fans, they’ll find happiness in the fact that come the end of the season, cup finals or not, they’ll get the perfect chance to pay tribute to one of modern football’s greats.
Besides, after all he’s done for the club, it’s hard to dispute that Salah owes the Kopites anymore, and has left enough of a legacy to leave on his own terms. A legacy that’s hard to describe, not for any complications, but the plethora of adjectives that can be used that makes it hard to limit to just one term. I’ll go for stellar.
Thumbnail credit: Steffen Prößdorf via Wikimedia Commons
