Everything good comes to an end. Even Mohamed Salah, the archetype of excellence for Liverpool for more than eight years, cannot be an exception. The Egyptian international surprised the football world by confirming his departure from Anfield at the end of the current season. Although Salah’s announcement was unexpected, the last few months seemed to set the stage for his farewell to Liverpool. Less than four months ago, there were serious doubts about the striker’s immediate future. After Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Leeds United, Salah expressed his frustration, stating he felt “abandoned” amid the team’s slump. The situation initially seemed unrecoverable, but after being excluded from the squad for Liverpool’s trip to Milan, Salah was reinstated to the team. This demonstrates his mental strength and that of coach Arne Slot, as an amicable resolution was achieved. After returning from the Africa Cup of Nations at the end of January, Salah was once again an almost indispensable player for Liverpool, before missing the weekend’s match against Brighton & Hove Albion due to a muscle problem. If the 33-year-old player had left through the back door in the January transfer market, it would have seemed an abrupt and unworthy end to one of Liverpool’s greatest careers. Now, the fans have the opportunity to say goodbye to Salah as he deserves.
The feeling, it’s safe to say, is mutual. Since joining the club from AS Roma in 2017, the forward has etched his name in gold in the annals of Anfield history. He is the club’s third all-time top scorer, with 255 goals in 435 matches. Salah has won eight major titles, including two Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League in 2019. During his time in Merseyside, he has recorded 189 goals and 92 assists in the Premier League, the highest number of goal contributions achieved by a player for the same club in the history of the competition. His brilliance is such that it now seems he can’t step onto the field without breaking another record. However, his impact is such that it cannot and should not be reduced simply to the matches played and the trophies won. In the last nine years, Salah has become a cultural phenomenon. For a generation, he is Liverpool Football Club, with an importance that goes beyond the sporting field. In 2019, the Egyptian international appeared on the cover of TIME magazine, after being named among the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2020, he was honored with a wax statue at Madame Tussauds in London. In 2021, a study by the American Political Science Review determined that Salah’s transfer to Liverpool had led to a 16% reduction in hate crimes in the city, as well as a decrease in Islamophobic rhetoric on the Internet.“I never imagined how deeply this club, this city, these people would become part of my life,” Salah said in an emotional video posted on his social media on Tuesday.
Mohamed Salah
There’s hardly a corner of Merseyside that isn’t marked in some way by the Liverpool striker, whether with an elaborate piece of street art or the image of a child with his name emblazoned on the back of their shirt. He has become interwoven into the fabric of the region, and his legacy will endure long after he bids farewell to Anfield.
From a football perspective, Salah’s imminent departure leaves a big void to fill at Liverpool. The Egyptian hasn’t lived up to his own standards this season, with 10 goals in 34 games, on his way to his least productive season in the red shirt, but it’s still almost impossible to imagine Liverpool without him.
