Mohamed Salah arrived at Liverpool in 2017 as an exciting prospect with something to prove. Eight years later, he leaves as one of the greatest players in the club’s history. This week, the Egyptian forward confirmed his departure at the end of the season, announcing via social media that he will leave as a free agent this summer. The club agreed to the arrangement despite one year remaining on a contract that pays approximately £500,000 per week.
No one who watched Salah’s first season at Anfield doubted they were watching something special. He scored 32 goals in his debut campaign and never really slowed down. Nine seasons later, his total of 255 goals places him third on Liverpool’s all-time list — behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt — and the trophies he accumulated along the way include the Champions League, two Premier League titles, the Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the FA Cup, and two League Cups. His four Golden Boots and three PFA awards are additional chapters in the same extraordinary story.
In his video farewell, Salah spoke without the distance that corporate announcements typically carry. He was warm, reflective, and honest about the depth of his attachment to Liverpool. He described the club as a passion and a spirit, and he spoke of the fans as people who had fundamentally shaped his experience over nine seasons. His closing words — an invocation of the club’s famous anthem — were both a tribute to those who sang it and a declaration of his own permanent loyalty.
This campaign has presented challenges that previous seasons did not. The public dispute with Arne Slot in December was a significant moment, with Salah making unprecedented public comments about the quality of his working relationship with the manager. Being dropped from a Champions League squad only heightened speculation about the state of things at the club. But he returned, and he reminded everyone of what he is capable of — the goal against Galatasaray that made him Africa’s Champions League all-time leading scorer was a particularly powerful response.
Liverpool said they would wait until later in the year to fully celebrate Salah’s legacy, acknowledging the competitive season still under way. His agent has offered no details on the next destination, leaving the global football community speculating. Whatever comes next for Mohamed Salah, the story he wrote at Liverpool across nine extraordinary seasons is complete. And it is a story that will be told and retold for as long as the club itself stands.
