An emotional Mohamed Salah stood in front of the Kop, his left arm raised in acknowledgement. With his right hand, he grasped the club crest on his shirt.
It was another special milestone in a glittering Liverpool career. The Egyptian had become the first African to score 50 Champions League goals.
But there was something else tugging at Salah’s heartstrings as he celebrated wrapping up a 4-0 victory against Galatasaray just over a week ago, which sets up a quarter-final against the competition’s title holders Paris Saint-Germain next month.
Salah knew then that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season and that the Galatasaray game would be the final time he would grace Anfield before the news broke. After several weeks of talks behind the scenes, an agreement had already been struck between the club and his representative, Ramy Abbas, to effectively cancel the final 12 months of the two-year extension he signed last April.
Mohamed Salah salutes Anfield after scoring against Galatasaray (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
It means that Salah, who has scored 255 goals in 435 games since arriving from Roma in a £43.9million deal ($58.5m at current rates) in July 2017, will be a free agent this summer. In May, there will be an emotional Anfield farewell to one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s illustrious history.
Salah was determined to keep the news quiet until this month’s international break to ensure that there was no disruption to the team during a crucial run of fixtures. The announcement on Tuesday evening was carefully choreographed, with the player posting a video on his social media platforms followed by the club releasing a statement on their website.
“Unfortunately, the day has come,” Salah said. “This is the first part of my farewell. I will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.”
The two-minute video, which featured Salah speaking in front of a packed trophy cabinet inside his home in the county of Cheshire, a short drive east from Liverpool, wasn’t an official in-house LFCTV production; the player opted to have it done independently. Within 48 hours, it had been viewed more than 31 million times on X alone.
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) March 24, 2026
Talks had been instigated by Salah’s camp during a turbulent 2025-26 season that has seen the 33-year-old’s output wane considerably. His future had been thrown into doubt by his outburst following the Premier League game away to Leeds United in December, when he said his relationship with head coach Arne Slot had broken down after losing his place in the team.
A truce was brokered and he regained his starting spot after returning from Egypt duty at the Africa Cup of Nations in late January. However, his performances have remained patchy and the prospect of staying around with his role further reduced next season was unpalatable.
Sporting director Richard Hughes led the discussions, with the club’s U.S. owners at Fenway Sports Group (FSG) signing off the agreement. Senior Anfield figures believe one of the reasons Salah’s availability record has been so remarkable over the past nine years is his elite mentality and burning desire to play every game. Keeping him as a squad player, especially given his status as the club’s highest earner on a basic wage of around £400,000 per week plus significant bonuses, was always unrealistic.
Sources familiar with the process — speaking anonymously, like all those contacted for this article, to protect their positions — have described it as “a common-sense outcome that suits all parties”.
The decision to grant him a free transfer rather than hold out for a fee this summer has been the subject of debate among supporters, but given Salah’s salary demands, it was deemed unlikely that a suitor would also be willing to pay a fee for somebody who turns 34 in June. Since rejecting a £150million bid from Saudi Pro League outfit Al Ittihad in September 2023, Liverpool have long expected that whenever Salah left, it would be for nothing.
There was also an element of goodwill from FSG in agreeing to waive the final year of his contract, given what Salah has contributed to the Anfield cause.
This way, there’s clarity for Liverpool, and they have time to properly plan how they are going to fill the void.
Getting Salah’s wages off the books has also given them plenty of room for manoeuvre as they consider how best to utilise their resources this summer.
Rewind to last April and Liverpool’s ‘Egyptian King’ was sat on a golden throne in the Anfield centre circle. A long-running contract saga had ended with him agreeing a two-year extension.
“I have played eight years here, hopefully it’s going to be 10,” he told LFCTV. He explained that his daughter Makka was “the happiest one in the family”, because she wouldn’t have to move away from her school friends.
Salah had just produced one of the greatest individual seasons English football had ever seen. He not only won the Premier League Golden Boot with 29 league goals (34 in all competitions), but also walked away with its Playmaker award after contributing 18 league assists (23 in all competitions), as he inspired Liverpool to a record-equalling 20th top-flight title in Slot’s first campaign at the helm. He was also crowned both Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year and Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year for the third time.
Liverpool’s initial doubts about renewing his contract on similar terms, given his age and salary, had subsided. At the time, it looked like a no-brainer. Salah’s return of 0.48 assists per 90 minutes in the Premier League in 2024-25 was the best of his career, and with 0.77 goals per 90, he hadn’t been so prolific since 2017-18. Fans’ banners on the Kop at Anfield had long since urged FSG to ‘Give Mo his dough’.
Senior Anfield figures knew it was inevitable that Salah’s performance levels would dip over the course of the two-year contract, but the drop-off this season has been greater than anyone envisaged.
In 34 appearances in all competitions, Salah has contributed just 10 goals (including two penalties). Before this season, his lowest return for the club was 23 goals in 2019-20.
There have been mitigating factors. Salah, like many of his team-mates, was badly affected by the tragic death of fellow Liverpool forward Diogo Jota last July. He broke down in tears in front of the Kop following the opening home game of the season against Bournemouth.
The departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid earlier last summer also had a particularly big impact on Salah, given the significant change in dynamic it meant for Liverpool’s right flank.
Slot’s side have been dogged by inconsistency, with new signings needing time to settle, injuries cutting deep, and key personnel losing their way. At times, they have struggled to get Salah sufficiently involved.
But he also hasn’t impacted games like he did for so long. When Slot sought solutions in November after a dismal run of nine defeats in 12 matches, Salah was relegated to the bench. The Dutchman wanted to make Liverpool more compact out of possession, and his lack of work off the ball meant that Salah paid the price.
Arne Slot and Salah’s relationship crumbled before Christmas (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
After a run of 53 successive Premier League starts for Liverpool over 19 months, he was left out of the trip to West Ham United. Not making the starting line-up three games in a row dented his pride and triggered his incendiary outburst at Elland Road.
Salah accused Liverpool of “throwing him under the bus” and breaking promises, and said his relationship with Slot had disintegrated. He was subsequently banished from the squad for a Champions League trip to play Inter in Milan as Hughes and FSG’s chief executive of football, Michael Edwards, backed Slot’s handling of the Egyptian. Senior Anfield figures have always insisted that no promises were made regarding game time when Salah signed his last contract, and many were shocked by the scale of the player’s outburst.
Before Christmas, talk about a possible winter-window exit abounded, but it never seriously looked like happening. Salah — who was about to go to Morocco for AFCON — didn’t ever push for a move then, no bids were forthcoming, and Liverpool were not looking to sell.
Salah apologised to his team-mates for the upheaval he had caused. Slot didn’t bear a grudge, and since his return from the tournament two months ago, he has started seven of the eight league matches for which he has been available.
Salah’s goal against Wolves was a rare highlight for him this season (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
That recent performance against Galatasaray, when he created a goal for Hugo Ekitike before scoring himself with a trademark finish, provided a reminder of his gifts, but he hasn’t been able to hit those heights regularly and could see the direction of travel regarding a reduced role.
News of Salah’s impending departure didn’t come as a surprise to many of his team-mates. There has long since been an expectation that a parting of the ways would happen this summer. They know how driven he is and how desperately he wants to play every game.
There is a sense of sadness because Salah commands their respect and will be sorely missed, but also a determination to ensure he goes out on a high. As their vice-captain Andy Robertson put it on social media: “Your mentality is second to none and a lot of people could take note… You deserve a send-off that reflects your status at LFC — the greatest. Second to none.”
One source close to Salah believes the player will see this summer, when he will take part in his second World Cup finals, as the opportunity to relaunch himself and remind the world that he is still an elite force.
The question is: where? Saudi Arabia has long been touted as his most plausible next destination. In 2023, Liverpool rejected a verbal proposal worth £100million, potentially rising to £150m with add-ons, from Al Ittihad. Al Hilal also wanted to recruit Salah in January 2025 for their Club World Cup campaign last summer.
The picture now is more complicated. While there would be an obvious attraction for Salah in relocating his family closer to Egypt, and there are plenty of people within the Saudi Pro League who would love to see him become one of the country’s marquee football names, it is unclear whether that enthusiasm is shared by all of the figures who would need to finance such a high-profile move.
Many of the SPL’s clubs already have big-name players on huge contracts: Cristiano Ronaldo is at Al Nassr, Karim Benzema moved from Al Ittihad to Al Hilal in January, Al Ahli have Riyad Mahrez in the position Salah would play, and Moussa Diaby is at Al Ittihad. There is speculation that Diaby could depart, but there is also uncertainty over the future of their head coach Sergio Conceicao. If a new coach did come in, they would have to be consulted over whether they wanted Salah in the squad.
Of the other clubs, Al Qadsiah have a new stadium due to open next year, but could find it difficult to meet Salah’s wage demands, and he is not currently considered a primary target. The Athletic reported in December that Neom SC were interested in a possible deal for him, but given their remote location within Saudi Arabia and lack of pedigree (this is their first SPL season and the club have only existed in their present form since 2023), they would be considered outsiders.
Then there are other possible stumbling blocks, not least the geopolitical uncertainty in the region caused by the military conflict between the U.S. and Israel and Iran. One game in the SPL was postponed shortly after the conflict began and the Formula 1 grand prix scheduled for next month in the Saudi city of Jeddah has been cancelled.
While Salah enjoys playing in England and would be tempted by a move to another big European club, there is a lack of viable options, particularly in terms of clubs that could finance such a move.
Paris Saint-Germain, who do have the financial clout, have moved away from the model of signing marquee names. They have prioritised younger talent and with such a gifted front line already, do not seem to have any need for Salah. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are very well stocked in attack, and Barcelona’s financial issues would seem to rule out any chance of them making a move. Salah has already played in Serie A, with Fiorentina and Roma, but again, money issues would make a move to Italy unlikely.
Multiple sources outside the United States have indicated that they view Major League Soccer as his most likely destination. It has previously appealed to Abbas, and MLS commissioner Don Garber said on Wednesday he would “love to see” Salah move to the North American competition.
Again, the question would be where? Sources familiar with the plans of San Diego FC, owned by British-Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour, say they are not in the picture for Salah. Chicago Fire will open a new soccer-specific stadium in 2028, but have not held any talks with Salah since initially gauging interest before he signed that extension at Liverpool.
New York City FC open their new stadium next year, and the club’s CEO, Brad Sims, did say that Salah’s signing would “be helpful” and that he “would love” to have him, but said no discussions had taken place over a deal.
Abbas posted on social media: “We do not know where Mohamed will play next season. This also means that no one else knows.”
And what of Liverpool?
In the barren decade before signing Salah, they lifted just a solitary trophy — the League Cup, English football’s third-most prestigious piece of silverware. In the nine years since, he’s helped deliver two Premier League titles, the Champions League, the old annual version of the Club World Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, an FA Cup and two League Cups, and is the third-highest goalscorer in the club’s history behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney are the only players in the Premier League era who have been more prolific.
There’s an acceptance internally that trying to find a like-for-like replacement is impossible. They don’t believe there is a wide forward available in world football capable of giving Liverpool what Salah provided so consistently in his prime.
The evolution of their front line started last summer with the signings of Ekitike, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz, and it will continue this summer.
Liverpool have been linked with Michael Olise of Bayern and RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande. Both players are admired by recruitment staff, but it’s highly unlikely that Bayern would sanction the sale of Olise. Diomande fits the club’s profile to a greater extent, but a rumoured price tag of around €100million (£86.7m; $115.2m) is viewed as excessive for the 19-year-old Ivory Coast international.
Last summer’s record-breaking £450million spending spree, which was partly financed by around £220m in player sales, won’t be repeated. That was described by senior Anfield figures as “doing three windows in one”, such was the turnover in personnel. The money available for the same window in 2026 will be influenced by whether Liverpool, currently fifth in the table, secure Champions League qualification.
Either way, there is an expectation that they will sign a winger, as the squad is in urgent need of an injection of pace, but there are no guarantees that it will be a marquee name.
Part of the plan post-Salah is that Liverpool will have the option of playing a 4-2-2-2 formation with Isak and Ekitike paired together up front, and Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai operating in front of two deeper-lying midfielders.
One of the priorities is to get Isak, Ekitike and Wirtz in the same team regularly. Remarkably, they have played just 88 minutes of football together so far this season. Isak, out with a broken leg since December, is expected to be fit to play some part in the upcoming Champions League tie against PSG.
Liverpool went for technical players last summer at a time when the Premier League was becoming more direct and physical. But they believe that Ekitike and Wirtz have gradually adapted and will kick on again next season.
Liverpool amassed a fearsome attack, but they have hardly played together (Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
FSG remains supportive of Slot, despite the growing external pressure on the head coach in the wake of a 10th league defeat of the season last weekend. There is sympathy for what he’s had to handle, from the disrupted pre-season to the spate of injuries and new players needing time to settle. However, it remains to be seen whether that resolve is tested between now and the end of the season if more setbacks follow and unrest among the fanbase continues to grow.
Either way, Salah’s departure will mark the end of an era at Anfield. He will rightly take his place among the pantheon of Liverpool greats.
There’s uncertainty for both player and club about what the future holds. For now, it’s all about ensuring he goes out with a bang rather than a whimper.
