End of an Era: Mohamed Salah Set to Leave Liverpool as a Free Agent This Summer

May 04, 2026

Mohamed Salah arriving at Craven Cottage for Fulham vs Liverpool — Mohamed Salah — arriving at Craven Cottage in April 2025, one of his final seasons at Liverpool | Photo: Timmy96 / Wikimedia Commons / CC0

It is almost certain now. Mohamed Salah is leaving Liverpool at the end of this season, and the weight of what that means for English football is only beginning to settle. Since joining from Roma in 2017 for what seemed at the time a modest fee, the Egyptian forward has grown into one of the most extraordinary players the Premier League has ever seen. Over 250 goals in a red shirt. Champions League glory. A Premier League title. Multiple Golden Boots. Records that may never be broken. And now, with his contract set to expire and his relationship with the club strained after a difficult final season, he will walk away from Anfield as a free agent — and the football world is holding its breath to find out where he goes next.

The End of an Era at Anfield

Salah's departure was not a clean break. Reports over the course of this season described a player who felt marginalised, dropped without explanation, and publicly scapegoated for a poor run of results that he felt were not his fault. He spoke openly about feeling as though "someone doesn't want me in the club" — words that stung Liverpool's fanbase and created a tension that never fully dissipated. Through it all, though, he continued to perform. He is still scoring goals. He is still an elite attacker even at 33. The bittersweet reality of his exit is that it did not have to end this way — but here we are, counting down his final appearances in the famous red jersey.

What He Leaves Behind

The statistical record alone is remarkable enough. No Liverpool player in the modern era has contributed more goals or been more consistently brilliant over such a sustained period. He won the Premier League Golden Boot multiple times, scored in Champions League finals, and produced individual seasons — particularly 2017-18 when he scored 32 league goals — that belong in the conversation about the greatest campaigns any player has had in the history of English football. His left foot created images that will be replayed for decades. The celebration with his arm raised, head bowed, has become one of the defining visual signatures of Premier League football in this era.

What Comes Next

Salah has confirmed he has "a lot of good options" and has not ruled out staying in Europe, though Saudi Arabia remains the most heavily reported destination with Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal both understood to be interested. Whatever he decides, the chapter that follows will lack nothing in financial reward. But there will always be a feeling among those who watched him play at his peak that no stadium, no contract, and no new adventure can quite match what he and Liverpool built together. The city of Liverpool will say goodbye this summer to a player who gave them everything — and who, in the end, deserved a better farewell than the one circumstances allowed.