Mohamed Salah has officially confirmed he will leave Liverpool at the end of the current season, one year before the expiry of his contract. The announcement, made simultaneously by the club and the player through social media, brings a slightly bitter end to one of English football’s most celebrated partnerships.
The 33-year-old Egyptian forward, who joined from Roma in 2017, amassed 255 goals in 435 appearances for the club — third on Liverpool’s all-time scoring list behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. He picked up four Premier League Golden Boots along the way, along with two league titles, a Champions League, and six other major honours.
Liverpool’s statement described Salah as “one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history,” adding that his time at Anfield had been “remarkable.” The club said he had asked to announce his departure to supporters as early as possible “due to his respect and gratitude for them.”
“I never imagined how deeply this club, this city, these people would become part of my life,” Salah wrote on Instagram. “Liverpool is not just a football club. It’s a passion, it’s a history, it’s a spirit.”
The departure, while widely expected at some stage, has come a year ahead of schedule and carries a slight edge of acrimony. Salah’s public fallout with manager Arne Slot — during which he told reporters in December that the club had “thrown me under the bus” — damaged his image with some supporters, though never fully eroded his legendary status.
His form this season has fallen well short of previous standards, and a muscle injury sustained in the Champions League against Galatasaray has kept him sidelined heading into the international break. Given the difficult circumstances, his farewell amounts to a complicated legacy rather than a clean one.
The financial implication is significant: by triggering an early exit, Salah will depart as a free agent, meaning Liverpool receive nothing in return. Clubs across Europe and the Middle East will now circle, with a Saudi return having previously been discussed — though Al-Ittihad’s approach was rejected in 2023.
Liverpool’s season continues with major objectives still alive. Their final Premier League fixture falls on May 24 against Brentford at Anfield, while a Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain looms as the most daunting remaining challenge. How much Salah features from this point on remains to be seen, but it is now clear that his Anfield story — whatever its final chapter — is drawing to a close.
It ends a nine-year era that transformed not just Liverpool’s fortunes but the entire character of the Premier League during its most globally watched period. The scale of what follows is difficult to quantify.
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