Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool at the end of the 2025-26 season, bringing an end to his nine-year stay at the club.
Liverpool have confirmed an agreement has been reached with the 33-year-old Egypt international to exit Anfield in the summer despite his existing contract, signed last year, running through to the summer of 2027.
Salah will leave Liverpool as one of the club’s most decorated players, having won eight trophies, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League in 2019.
He is third on the club’s all-time leading goalscorer list, having scored 255 times in 435 appearances, behind only Ian Rush (346 goals) and Roger Hunt (285).
Salah’s future was cast into doubt earlier in the season following an incendiary interview after he was an unused substitute for December’s 3-3 draw at Leeds United, the third consecutive match in which he was not selected by head coach Arne Slot.
The Egypt international said he felt “thrown under the bus” by the club and said his relationship with Slot had broken down.
He left the door open to a January exit and claimed he has been made a scapegoat for Liverpool’s struggles this season, insisting “someone does not want me in the club”.
Salah was subsequently left out of the Liverpool squad for the Champions League tie at Inter, which they won 1-0.
The call was taken by sporting director Richard Hughes in conjunction with the club’s ownership and Slot.
The Liverpool head coach told a press conference before the Inter match that he had “no clue” if Salah had played his final game for the club.
He said he was shocked by the claims that the pair’s relationship had broken down.
Salah, however, was reintegrated back into Liverpool’s team following this winter’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), and has started 13 matches for the club since January 21.
“With plenty still left to play for this season, Salah is firmly focused on trying to achieve the best possible finish to the campaign for Liverpool and, therefore, the time to fully celebrate his legacy and achievements will follow later in the year when he bids farewell to Anfield,” a club statement read.
Salah was the Premier League’s top scorer and creator last season, providing 29 goals and 18 assists as Liverpool won the title in Slot’s debut season in charge.
However, his downturn in form this campaign has coincided with Liverpool struggling this term; Salah has scored five goals and provided six assists in 22 league appearances, and has 10 goals in all competitions.
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In April last year, Salah ended a long-running saga over his future by signing a new deal with the Merseyside club through to 2027.
The contract is worth more than £400,000 ($534,000) per week plus bonuses.
Salah’s Liverpool legacy is undeniable
Analysis from Liverpool writer Gregg Evans
Many Liverpool supporters sensed this might be coming, but still that doesn’t make it any easier to digest.
Salah has redefined expectations since arriving in 2017 and even in this most testing of seasons, his presence on the pitch always gives those in the stands the belief that a moment of magic is close by.
Now, the impending departure of the man they call the Egyptian King will bring a close to one of the most transformative eras in the club’s modern history.
What will a Liverpool team look like without him?
That thought alone will still take some time to get used to, and you can bet these closing months of the season will be emotionally-charged as fans flock to see their hero in red for one last time.
Salah won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2019Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
The sight of him sitting in front of a trophy cabinet, delivering the news that this will be his final season, was not expected in this quiet, international break, yet the decision to act with such clarity should be applauded.
Not only will he now receive a deserved drawn-out send-off, Liverpool will be able to start planning for the future and begin the tough task of filling his big boots.
Salah set the tone at Anfield right from the off and backed up a brilliant debut season by helping deliver another Champions League title in 2019 and the long-awaited Premier League crown in 2020.
The journey has not been without hardship.
From the heartbreak of the 2018 Champions League final injury to near-misses in title races, and the odd public outburst, especially this season’s comments that threatened to tarnish his reputation, he’s been through a lot both on and off the pitch.
Yet with a FA Cup, two League Cups and a heroic performance in last season’s title win, his legacy is undeniable.
There’s no question that he’ll leave both a global icon and club legend, and the hope for Liverpool is that there’s one final chapter still to write.
‘This will always be my home’
Salah paid tribute to his team-mates and the Liverpool supporters as he announced his departure, describing the club as “a passion, a history, a spirit”.
“Unfortunately the day has come,” Salah said in a video posted on social media. “This is the first part of my farewell, I will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.
“I wanted to start by saying I never imagined how deeply this club, this city, these people, would become part of my life.
“Liverpool is not just a football club, it’s a passion, a history, a spirit, I can’t explain in words.
“To anyone not part of this club, we celebrated victory, we won the most important trophies and we fought together during the hardest time of our life.
“I want to thank everyone who was part of this club throughout my time here, especially my team-mates, past and present, and to the fans: I don’t have enough words.
“For the support you showed me through the best time in my career, and you stood by me in the toughest times, it is something I will never forget and will take with me always.
“Leaving is never easy, this will always be my home. You gave me the best time of my life, I will always be one of you. This will always be home to me and my family.
“Thank you for everything, because of all of you, I will never walk alone.”
Source – New York Times
(vitalnewsngr.com)
