Salah’s form has plummeted for Liverpool this season off the back of his record-breaking 2024/25 campaign
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Wayne Rooney believes Mohamed Salah’s time at the top is coming to an end amid his struggles in front of goal this season.
Salah has been Liverpool’s trusted talisman for coming up to nine years and sits as the club’s third highest all-time goalscorer with a tally of 251.
The Egyptian showed no signs of slowing down during Liverpool’s title-winning campaign last term, equalling the all-time record for the most goal involvements in a Premier League single campaign as he racked up 47 goals and assists, a benchmark previously set by Alan Shearer and Andy Cole.
But after penning the winger down to a new two-year contract last April, Salah has seen his performances take a stark dip, leading to Reds manager Arne Slot dropping him from the starting XI in November.
While the rift caused by that decision appears to have since been ironed out, Rooney is convinced that Salah, now 33, has passed the point of no returns in his career.
When asked if the Salah era was over, he said on The Wayne Rooney Show: “It will be at the end of season, you'd imagine.
“I think he's incredible player in what he's done for the Premier League and for Liverpool. One of the best to ever play in the Premier League, I think. But I just think, unfortunately, his legs have gone a little bit.
“I watched him in the African Cup of Nations as well, and he's not moving as well or as he was quick as he used to, which is no fault of his own. That happens to players. I think you've probably seen the end of him from the summer on.
“I think it's there for everyone to see and it was the same with Virgil van Dijk at the start of the season, that form's carried on throughout the season really. He's not really had a great season, so that's what I feel anyway.”
Mohamed Salah has not been firing for Liverpool this season
Mohamed Salah has not been firing for Liverpool this season (Action Images via Reuters)
Salah has scored just six goals across all competitions this season, with his drop in output coinciding with Liverpool’s disastrous title defence which saw them go on their worst run of form in over 70 years.
He was benched for four consecutive league games before heading to the Africa Cup of Nations, sparking the Egyptian to go on a tirade against Slot and Liverpool hierarchy where he claimed he had been “thrown under the bus”.
That incident threw his Liverpool future into doubt but he has remained at the club throughout the January window despite reignited talk of a move to Saudi Arabia.
He has been restored to the starting line-up since returning from Morocco, scoring his first Liverpool goal in over two months against Qarabag in the Champions League last Wednesday.