Liverpool star Mohamed Salah on Tuesday said that he would leave the English club at the end of the Premier League season, marking an earlier-than-planned departure for one of the club’s greatest-ever scorers and soccer’s biggest names.
The 33-year-old Egypt forward, who has scored 255 goals in 435 appearances for Liverpool, “reached an agreement” to quit the team a year before his contract was due to expire, the Premier League champions said.
Salah’s form has dipped in his ninth year at Anfield, to such an extent that he was dropped for a stretch of games late last year — leading to the winger telling reporters in an impromptu interview that the club “has thrown me under the bus.”
Photo: AP
“Unfortunately the day has come,” Salah said on Instagram that was released at about the same time as Liverpool published a six-paragraph statement announcing the imminent departure of a club great.
“I wanted to start by saying I never imagined how deeply this club, this city, these people would become part of my life,” he said. “Liverpool is not just a football club. It’s a passion, it’s a history, it’s a spirit. I can’t explain in words to anyone not part of this club.”
It is a slightly acrimonious exit for Salah, who has been the superstar name in Liverpool’s greatest team in a generation. He has won two Premier Leagues and a UEFA Champions League in a total of eight titles since joining from AS Roma in 2017, initially forming a devastating front three with Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino under manager Juergen Klopp.
Salah is third in Liverpool’s all-time scorers’ list, behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt, and has won the Golden Boot — as the Premier League’s top scorer — four times.
Liverpool described Salah as “one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history” and said his time at Anfield had been “remarkable.”
“Salah expressed his wish to make this announcement to the supporters at the earliest possible opportunity to provide transparency about his future due to his respect and gratitude for them,” Liverpool said.
There was no immediate word from Salah on his next club.
Leaving as a free agent would mean that Liverpool would not collect a transfer fee.
Salah signed a two-year extension to his contract at Liverpool at the end of last season, tying him to the club until next year.
However, his public clash with the club and manager Arne Slot this season might have tarnished his legacy in the eyes of some fans.
“I think it is very clear that someone wanted me to get all of the blame,” he said during an interview after he was an unused substitute against Leeds United in December last year.
Salah is out with a muscle injury sustained against Galatasaray in the Champions League last week.
Liverpool’s final Premier League game of the season is against Brentford at Anfield on May 24.
The Champions League final is the following weekend, with Liverpool to play Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals.
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