Mohamed Salah, the King of Anfield, bows out

Some endings affect more than others. This Sunday in Anfield, against Brentford, for the last match of the Premier League season, Mohamed Salah has walked for the last time on the pitch of this stadium which saw him become a legend. Standing the Kop. Egyptian flags in the aisles. And this silence of a second, just before the songs burst out one last time: "Mo Salah, Mo Salah, running down the wing."

The story deserved better than an injury release, a muscle tear during the 3-1 victory against Crystal Palace on April 25, with Salah leaving the field in the 60th minute limping, taking time to greet the Anfield fans at length. But Liverpool offered him on Sunday what fate had refused to grant him: a farewell worthy of a king.

From Chelsea to Anfield: the rebirth of a genius
The story of Mohamed Salah in Liverpool is first and foremost that of redemption. Arrived from Egypt, passed through Basel, stranded in Chelsea, where José Mourinho had not been able to trust him, revealed to Fiorentina and Roma, the winger from Cairo seemed doomed to the status of a broken promise. It was Jürgen Klopp who changed everything in the summer of 2017, paying 42 million euros to bring him back to the Premier League.

In his first season with the Reds (2017-2018), the Egyptian winger reached the final of the Champions League against Real Madrid and finished top scorer of the Premier League with a record 32 goals. Steven Gerrard, who was present that evening, said that he was "at the beginning of the rise of a huge player." He had seen everything.

The pain of Kiev, a shoulder injury caused by Sergio Ramos in the C1 final in 2018, would forge a thirst for revenge. A year later, in Madrid, Salah opened the scoring on penalty in the second minute against Tottenham. Liverpool thus won the Champions League, before conquering the title of champion of England in 2020, putting an end to a 30-year drought. The trio he formed with Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino entered into legend.

The figures of another world
Salah’s statistics in Liverpool belong to a category apart. 257 goals and 123 assists in 442 games in all competitions: Salah has not only marked the club’s history, he has redefined the standards of the winger position.

His 281 offensive contributions in the Premier League for Liverpool, 189 goals and 93 assists, constitute the absolute record of all the history of the division for a player within the same club. A figure that Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry or Alan Shearer have never approached under one jersey. Moreover, for his last match, the Pharaoh offered an assist, his 93rd in the Premier League, becoming the Red with the most caviars in the championship, thus surpassing the legend Steven Gerrard (92).

He is also the only player in club history to have scored 20 goals or more in eight consecutive seasons, a relentless consistency that has propelled him to the top of the Liverpool Premier League goalscoring chart, his first 100 goals scored in just 151 games, a club record.

In European competitions, his 53 goals make him the all-time top scorer for Liverpool on the continental stage. And during the 2024-25 season, he brought his total to 47 contributions in the Premier League (29 goals, 18 assists), equaling the absolute record for goals involved in a single campaign of 38 games in the history of the competition.

Four Golden boots (top scorer in the Premier League), two PFA player titles, twice English champions, winner of the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup. The record of a lifetime.

The legacy of the Pharaoh
Beyond the statistics, Mohamed Salah has redefined what a right wing could be in modern football. Fast, technical, decisive, generous in the collective game and able to carry an entire team on his shoulders for months. He demonstrated, season after season, that an African footballer could not only perform at the highest European level, but also become its best player.

Its impact goes beyond Anfield. For millions of Egyptians, African footballers, and fans across the Arab world, Salah embodied something greater than football: proof that there were no limits imposed by origins. The Kop’s song "If he scores another few, then I’ll be Muslim too", has become one of the strongest symbols of an entire generation.

In terms of pure statistics, only Ian Rush, 346 goals in 660 games, five titles of champion of England and two European crowns, leads him in the great pantheon of Anfield. But where Rush spent most of his career at this club, Salah accomplished the essential in nine years. Perhaps that is what makes his rule even more astounding.

And now?
At 33 (he will be 34 on June 15), Salah does not hang up his boots. So he is leaving Liverpool. But for what destination? The Saudi track seems today to be the most serious way to welcome the Pharaoh in a last major chapter. Before that, the 2026 World Cup in North America awaits him with Egypt.

Liverpool will have to turn the page. After Gerrard, after Owen, after the legends who wore this jersey, the question will inevitably arise: who one day will be able to fill such a void? The answer, perhaps, is that no one will really be able to. We are not replacing Mohamed Salah. We are honoring him.