Mo Salah has announced that he will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the 2025/26 season. The Egyptian legend released a statement on Tuesday evening that was the “first part of (his) farewell”, adding simply, “I will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season”. He went on to say how much the club meant to him and to thank his teammates. To the supporters, he said, “I don’t have enough words,” and that their support was “something I will take with me always”.
His statement concluded by saying that “Leaving is never easy… I will be always one of you… Thank you for everything. Because of all of you I will never walk alone.” How much he will feature in the final months of the campaign remains to be seen, but he will surely want to sign off with more goals to help boost Liverpool’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
A Sad Ending
In full: Mohamed Salah’s message to Liverpool supporters 💬❤️
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 24, 2026
Few sports stars get to enjoy the fairytale ending they might have scripted for themselves. Even the biggest legends and GOATs from a range of sports have often had to settle for disappointment right at the end. Tiger Woods’ career continues to an extent, but he is unlikely to ever win another big event, while Novak Djokovic’s quest to surpass Margaret Court’s tally of 24 Grand Slams is also ongoing, but his career seems likely to end without that elusive 25th title. Don Bradman was dismissed for a duck in his final Test innings when he needed just four runs to end with a triple-digit average for his career, and Usain Bolt’s last track outing saw him pull up injured in the 4x100m final, having only managed a bronze in the solo event.
All of which is to say that Salah is not alone in seeing his career end less gloriously than it might have, or even should have, for those who believe in romance. He might yet end the campaign with a flurry of goals and assists to fire the Reds to a top-four finish (though top five will do) and FA Cup glory, so perhaps we are being premature. But realistically, we suspect his time at Anfield is going to end with a whimper rather than a bang.
Indeed, barring a rather huge bang, he is pretty much certain to end this campaign having played the fewest matches, fewest minutes and scored the fewest goals of any of his seasons with Liverpool. He currently boasts just 10 goals in all competitions, with his worst return to this point being the 23 he netted in 2019/20. He has featured 34 times this term, spending 2,685 minutes on the pitch – an average of around 79 minutes per game. His 44 appearances (25 goals) from 2023/24 is the lowest previously, so he could yet better that if Arne Slot opts to play him regularly.
Time will tell, but with the glorious benefit of hindsight, Salah’s remarkable Liverpool story would have been better with his incredible 2024/25 being the last chapter. He played 52 times, scoring 34 goals and registering an incredible 23 assists, almost single-handedly firing the Reds to only their second Premier League title ever. But hindsight is a wonderful thing.
What of His Contract?
Salah was given an incredibly lucrative two-year contract following his remarkable performances last term. His sensational output rather forced the club’s hand, but it was always likely to be a risk with a player who turns 34 in the summer.
There was further pressure on the club to keep the attacker, given the departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Losing two huge stars on free transfers was deemed unacceptable, and with the club’s hierarchy confident about Salah’s fitness and physical robustness, despite his age, they sanctioned the deal. The two-year extension that Salah agreed in the spring of 2025 was worth a massive £400,000 per week, according to a range of reports. Clearly, the Reds have not had the return on that investment they had hoped for.
At the time of Salah’s recent announcement, it was unclear exactly what the terms of his departure would be. It was revealed that Mo had reached an agreement with Liverpool to leave a year early on a free transfer, but we did ot know too much more than that. The club itself said that the “forward has reached an agreement with the Reds that will see him close a remarkable nine-year chapter at Anfield”.
It certainly has been a remarkable nine years for Salah and Liverpool. We now know that the forward has agreed to forego the remaining salary he would have been owed, giving up the £400,000 per week the club contractually owe him.
A Decent Deal All Round?
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 24, 2026
Ascertaining who has got the best out of the agreement between Liverpool and Salah is not straightforward. The player was clearly unhappy with not being the main man, and Slot obviously thinks his forward is not delivering in the same way and is not a big part of his future plans, especially with Alexander Isak hopefully fit and ready to go next term.
The club have “saved” around £20m in wages, while Salah is the same substantial sum down. However, the player can now command incredible wages from his new club, suspected to be in the Saudi Pro League, given that there is no transfer fee required to sign him. He could easily recoup that £20m and then some.
Meanwhile, Liverpool will get no fee for a player for whom they have previously rejected bids of £150m and more. They would not have got that much for him this summer, but did reportedly turn down bids close to £100m for the Egyptian in January. Moreover, they would certainly have got far more than £20m even now. So, while it is a good deal for all parties, we feel it is Mo and his future club who have done best of all.