In an official move that ended all speculation, Egyptian star Mohamed Salah announced his departure from Liverpool FC at the end of the current 2025-2026 season.
This announcement marks the end of a golden era during which Salah witnessed scoring more than 250 goals and achieving all possible titles with the Reds. However, the technical, administrative and financial reasons that led to this decision reveal a major strategic shift in the club’s policy.
Reliable journalist Ben Jacobs explained that the agreement came after calm negotiations that led to the avoidance of any contractual dispute, allowing Liverpool to plan early for the post-Salah phase without paying any financial compensation.
The club also announced through an official statement that it will honor the Egyptian Pharaoh in a major celebration at the end of the season, in honor of his historical contributions to the team.
Salah’s goalscoring rate has seen a sharp decline this season compared to his previous exceptional numbers.
After scoring 34 goals and making 23 assists last season, the Egyptian player has so far been satisfied with only 7 goals and 8 assists.
He also entered into a goal drought that extended to 10 consecutive matches in the Premier League without scoring a goal from open play since November 1, which is the longest goal drought in his career with Liverpool since he joined in the summer of 2017.
This clear decline in offensive productivity is one of the main factors that hastened the decision to leave.
However, in the wake of Liverpool’s failure to defend their title this season, the view that Salah has declined physically has become the prevailing hypothesis, and this has been adopted by some sporting analysts linked to Liverpool such as Jamie Carragher.
But in reality, according to English journalist Anthony Nolan, “the Egyptian player averaged 15.1 times per match in the 2024-2025 season, compared to 14.8 times this season before he left to participate in the African Cup of Nations last December, which represents only a slight decrease.”
Meanwhile, Salah covered an average of 9.3km in Premier League matches last season, and an average of 9.7km ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations this time around, his numbers improving at a time when criticism of his fitness is at an all-time high.
While these numbers do not provide a comprehensive picture of Salah’s physical condition, the fact that he is achieving similar statistics this season compared to last makes it difficult to claim that his struggles are due to a natural physical decline, as is commonly believed.
The finger of blame is more directed at the new tactical ideas of coach Arne Slott, who this season wanted to use the new elements to remove the team from the “Jurgen Klopp” mantle, but he has not succeeded so far, and Salah was one of the victims of the Reds’ modified system, to some extent.
The clash with Liverpool coach Arne Sloat last December was the point of no return for Mohamed Salah, after the player sat on the bench for three consecutive matches.
Salah stated at the time, saying: “Now I am sitting on the bench and I do not know why. It seems that the club has thrown me under the bus (meaning to make him a scapegoat for poor results).”
He added: “I received a lot of promises in the summer, and yet I have been on the bench for three matches so far, so I cannot say that they are keeping the promise. I said many times before that my relationship with the coach is good, and suddenly there is no longer any relationship between us.”
Despite a subsequent handshake between the two parties, the clash left a profound impact that prompted the administration to plan a new chapter.
Huge Saudi temptations… and changing the Reds’ policy
Financial temptations from Saudi Professional League clubs have not stopped targeting Mohamed Salah since Liverpool rejected a £150 million offer from Al-Ittihad Club in 2023.
With the announcement of his departure, the player is expected to receive a new offer that could double his current salary of 400,000 pounds per week or more.
At the same time, the new policy put in place by Liverpool, led by Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes, led to this situation, as the huge contracts and huge spending in the last summer transfers showed the Reds management’s intention to change, and start a new phase in which Mohamed Salah is not the focus of attention, by supporting the attack with various players such as Wirtz, Ekitiki and Isaac. (coora)
