Liverpool may look to sign a successor to Mohamed Salah this summer.placeholder image
Liverpool may look to sign a successor to Mohamed Salah this summer. | AFP via Getty Images
Mohamed Salah is a Liverpool legend, but what has happened to him this season?
Regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, Mohamed Salah will always be a Liverpool, and Premier League legend.
The veteran winger is expected to leave Anfield this summer and will do so fourth on the all-time list of Premier League goalscorers. His only frustration being that a poor campaign has cost him a place in the top three and, potentially, second place behind Alan Shearer with a 22-goal gap to Harry Kane. The eight goals to Wayne Rooney in third should have been achieved this year after breaking a host of records leading the Reds to the title in 2024/25.
Mohamed Salah suffers rapid decline at Liverpool
Time waits for no man, but it is the nature of Salah’s decline that has surprised everyone. He has gone from a peak season to one of his worst since establishing himself at Basel some 14 years ago. Speaking on TalkSPORT, European football expert Dougie Critchley thinks that Salah has been a key factor in Liverpool’s decline: “I don't think there's enough threat in attacking areas. Hugo Ekitike has been left to do far too much since Alexander Isak's injury. Florian Wirtz has only really turned up from December onwards.
“Mo Salah is a pale imitation of the player that we saw last year. I can't really remember a more dramatic drop-off in Premier League history from one of the best individual seasons we've ever seen in Premier League history. The most amount of goal contributions we've ever seen in a 38-game Premier League season to a player that is so easily contained.
“And I know he did grab Liverpool's equaliser here, but there's just been so many games this season that are really passing him by. They haven't got the balance right in midfield, apart from the last few weeks, I think Alexis Mac Allister is at a really poor season. The decision not to go in for Mark Guehi until the 11th hour in the summer transfer window.”
Is Salah to blame for Liverpool slump?
If it is possible to praise Salah for almost single handedly winning the title last season, it is equally as valid to criticise him for his output this season. The 33-year old has eight goals and eight assists so far in 30 appearances, a far cry from the 34 goals and 23 assists of last year. It is, as Critchley says, a “dramatic drop-off". There is no other way to describe it. Slot and Liverpool extended Salah’s contract knowing that he was going to decline, but nobody could have predicted what has happened. Even 20 goals and 10 assists would still have been considered a good season.
Given his age and how Salah has looked when he has played, the player of last year is gone. In a league that has grown more and more defensive and more and more physical, an ageing winger who relied predominantly on his pace over 5-10 yards to create space for himself, isn’t going to rediscover his midas touch.
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