Rio Ferdinand has singled out Manchester United icon Ryan Giggs after the news that Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
Ryan Giggs is one of the most decorated Premier League players of all time and the Welshman spent his entire legendary playing career at Manchester United.
Rio Ferdinand shared the pitch at Old Trafford with ‘Class of ‘92’ star Giggs, who was a key United first-team mainstay under former Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
The 47-year-old former TNT Sports pundit touched on Giggs’ remarkable legacy at United amid reacting to Mohamed Salah confirming his summer exit from Liverpool.
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Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs celebrates during the first-leg Champions League semi-final match against Schalke in 2011 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Photo credit should read PATRIK STOLLARZ/AFP via Getty Images
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Ryan Giggs incredible honours list 🏆
Premier League x13
FA Cup x4
League Cup x4
Champions League x2
UEFA Super Cup
Intercontinental Cup
Club World Cup
Manchester United’s all-time record appearance maker
Ryan Giggs lifting the Premier League trophy
Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images
Why Rio Ferdinand feels that Man Utd icon Ryan Giggs shares a common theme with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah extended his future with Liverpool in 2025 and his current contract with Manchester United’s fierce rivals was set to run through until 2027.
However, Liverpool and the 33-year-old Egypt captain announced on Tuesday that Salah was in his final Premier League season at Anfield before his departure.
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Salah, whose form has been brought into question in the 2025-26 campaign, will now leave on a free transfer as part of his arrangement with Liverpool.
Rio Ferdinand insisted that Salah’s blip in form at the Reds could be comparable with the downturn period that United legend Ryan Giggs experienced in his career.
“If anyone deserves a little bit of respite and a bit of time to get that form and confidence back, it’s Mo Salah,” he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents.
“I don’t want to talk about it because it’s Man United, but Ryan Giggs, the most decorated footballer in Premier League history, went through a downturn in form and confidence when I was at Manchester United.
“Yeah, there were people saying that maybe it’s time for him to move on. There [were] murmurings of other clubs, one of them.”
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Rio Ferdinand on Ryan Giggs’ bounce back at Man Utd amid his comparison with Mohamed Salah at Liverpool
Giggs spent the majority of his illustrious Red Devils career under iconic former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson before he retired from football in 2014.
The 52-year-old former Man Utd winger and midfielder was part of all 13 of the Red Devils’ Premier League title wins during Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford.
Ferdinand added that the Red Devils’ desire to stick with Giggs when he experienced a blip in his career paid off with the former Wales international’s resurgence.
“But you know what?” The club stuck it out, stuck by him, and he went on to win probably three or four, maybe five Premier League titles,” he added.
“So those greats, when they’ve done so much great work for a football club, I think you have to look at them in a different light.”
Salah has netted only 10 times and registered nine assists in 34 matches across all competitions amid Liverpool’s lacklustre Premier League title defence this season.
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