My mobile phone buzzed at 6.33am, waking me from my slumber. The message from Helmy Abdul Hashim was blunt.
No “Hello bro”, no “Good morning”, just emotional devastation: “Mo dah announce … he’s leaving”.
That was it. My week, ruined. Breakfast? Pointless. Coffee? Futile. I didn’t need VAR to check my feelings or my appetite. This was truly the end of an era. Mohamed Salah was leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.
Yet strangely, while it felt like a gut punch, it wasn’t exactly a surprise. The writing had been on the wall for a while. From the moment of his outburst just before the African Cup of Nations in December, it seemed Salah’s time was up.
But it is hard to say goodbye to someone who has been outstanding during his time with England’s most successful club.
Some figured he would leave in the January transfer window, but he stayed, determined to go out with one last hurrah. The league title may be out of sight, but there is still the Champions League and FA Cup to play for.
In 435 appearances, the Egyptian has scored 255 times and provided 119 assists.
He is Liverpool’s third-highest scorer, behind Ian Rush (346) and Roger Hunt (285).
Not for nothing did he earn the moniker, the Egyptian King – high praise from Merseyside, which some commentators dubbed the People’s Republic of Liverpool due to the population’s dislike of British royalty.
And what a king he has been.
When Salah arrived from AS Roma in 2017, many were quick to dismiss him as a “Chelsea reject” after his dismal time in London.
Since then, what followed was nine years of footballing absurdity. Goals that bent physics. Assists that defied geometry. Defenders left questioning their career choices, and winning everything on offer in club football.
Two English Premier League titles, one each of the Champions League, Fifa Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, two League Cups and a Community Shield, with the promise of more glory to come before he packs his bags in May.
He also has four Golden Boot awards, the joint most with former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. He is the only player to win the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award three times and has also won three Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year titles.
He remains the only player to score a hat-trick at Old Trafford, home of Manchester United. Funnily enough, since the 2020s, Salah ranks as the eighth-highest Premier League scorer at Old Trafford with 10 goals.
Salah didn’t just succeed in England – he redefined expectations week after week, season after season, despite fans from other clubs calling him a one-season wonder after his 47 goals and 16 assists in his debut season.
The goals flowed freely, often with him cutting inside from the right before finding the back of the net, even with four or five defenders in front of him.
Yet somehow, he remains underappreciated outside Liverpool.
Not by Anfield, where Salah is adored – practically a religion – and his impact goes far beyond goals and trophies.
Besides the more popular “Mo Salah running down the wing”, fans have a second song devoted to him:
Mo Salah, la, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la, la, la,
If he’s good enough for you,
He’s good enough for me,
If he scores another few, then I’ll be Muslim too,
If he’s good enough for you,
He’s good enough for me,
Then sitting in a mosque is where I wanna be.
Coincidentally, a 2019 study by Stanford University found a measurable drop in Islamophobia on Merseyside following his arrival, quickly labelled the “Salah Effect”.
What made Salah so loved was that he just got on with the game. No drama or nonsense – just relentless brilliance game after game, week after week, month after month for nine seasons.
When Jürgen Klopp left in 2024, it felt like the final page of a very special chapter. The man who rebuilt Liverpool, who turned doubters into believers and heavy metal into silverware, had gone. It should have been the end.
But Klopp left behind pillars in Salah, Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Liverpool surged to the title thanks largely to Salah, who dragged – and occasionally carried – the team to the summit like a man determined not to let the story end.
This season has not gone to plan. Arne Slot’s new system has left Salah exposed. The goals have dried up, leading some to call for him to be dropped.
However, such are his high standards that even in a season where pundits say he is “washed”, Salah’s numbers are still better than some of his rivals at other clubs.
His announcement wasn’t dramatic. Just a simple confirmation that the journey is ending. Salah’s exit feels like the keystone removed from Klopp’s team.
Salah will be missed, possibly to the point of rewatching old highlights and pretending everything is fine.
But for now, it is a long goodbye to the man called Magical Mo, Sensational Salah, the Egyptian King.
Thanks for the memories and the joy – and as always, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
