Reliable journalist James Pearce has dropped a significant new claim regarding Mohamed Salah reversing his decision to leave Liverpool this summer.
The Reds legend has brought an end to his nine-year stay with the Reds, having fallen out with Arne Slot and made it clear that he worried about standards slipping in a social media post last month:
“I have witnessed this club go from doubters to believers, and from believers to champions. It took hard work and I always did everything I could to help the club get there. Nothing makes me prouder than that. Us crumbling to yet another defeat this season was very painful and not what our fans deserve.
“I want to see Liverpool go back to being the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies. That is the football I know how to play and that is the identity that needs to be recovered and kept for good. It cannot be negotiable and everyone that joins this club should adapt to it.”
Despite rumours suggesting Salah could now stay at Liverpool after Slot’s exit, *The Athletic*‘s Pearce has shot them down, saying the Egyptian’s time at Anfield has been and gone:
“No chance. Salah got the Anfield send-off he deserved at the end of the season after nearly nine years of outstanding service. All parties felt that it was the right time to go their separate ways, with Salah having initiated the talks that led to Liverpool agreeing to effectively rip up the final year of his contract in March.
“Arne Slot’s subsequent exit and the appointment of Iraola changes nothing. Liverpool are focused on filling the Salah void this summer, and the Egyptian is weighing up his options as he prepares to embark on a new challenge at the age of 34.”
Mo Salah returning to Liverpool makes no sense
This is a case of heads needing to rule hearts for Liverpool fans, with Salah staying put ultimately making little sense, as a new era gets underway.
He is a far cry from the player of old, losing pace and influence, and it is hard to see him being able to thrive in Andoni Iraola’s relentless style of play.
It was sad to see Salah leave, and few would have complained if he had seen out the final year of his contract, but that ship has sailed now, and it’s time to move on.
It’s now a case of Liverpool making sure they find the perfect successor to the 34-year-old, with RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande looking like a superb option.