Leonard Solms
Mar 27, 2026, 06:27 AM
Open Extended Reactions
On Tuesday, Liverpool officially confirmed that Mohamed Salah will leave at the end of the 2025-26 season, and while it's pretty much impossible for a Betway Premiership club to sign him, that did not stop us from imagining "what if"?
In the ludicrous event that he touched down in South Africa to continue his club career, these are the clubs that would suit him best.
If Salah wants a home that meets his standards tactically, structurally, and in terms of continental ambition; there is only one answer in South African football: Ka Bo Yellow.
Sundowns have continued their dominance this season, proving that they can still show both tactical discipline and attacking flair. They have won eight consecutive domestic titles and are very much in the hunt for a ninth.
Editor's Picks
2 Related
Crucially for Salah, Sundowns play in the CAF Champions League, providing the closest equivalent to the continental football he has thrived in throughout his career. There is arguably no club more consistent in this competition across the whole of Africa, and there is certainly no club in Sub-Saharan Africa that holds the same grudging admiration in Salah's home country of Egypt than Mamelodi Sundowns.
The Brazilians have fought memorable battles in recent years with all three of Egypt's powerhouses - traditional giants Al Ahly and Zamalek, as well as current Champions League holders Pyramids FC.
The club has the resources, the medical infrastructure, and the coaching sophistication to accommodate high-profile signings. Head coach Miguel Cardoso and sporting director Flemming Berg have had their highs and lows with the Sundowns fans, but nobody can accuse them of lacking experience working with top talent.
Cardoso honed his craft at FC Porto, and was subsequently a trusted assistant to Paulo Fonseca in an exciting Shakhtar Donetsk team. His decorated coaching career has also seen him work as an assistant coach at Sporting CP and Deportivo La Coruña, as well as a head coach at Celta Vigo.
The idea of Mohamed Salah in a Sundowns kit is as ridiculous as this picture. But a PSL fan can dream, ne? Getty images/ESPN
Salah would be a challenge in a different ballpark to those who have come before for Sundowns and their coaching staff. However, their high-possession, structured style would suit a forward who is at his most devastating cutting in from the flank into pockets of space -- exactly the overloads a team of Sundowns' quality would be able to create in order to support him.
Salah would undoubtedly be the star of the show by some distance at Sundowns. However, he would slot into a system already built to win, with quality around him, and could conceivably walk away with a CAF Champions League medal -- the one continental trophy that has eluded South Africa's most successful club since their first triumph in 2016. They beat Zamalek in that final, but lost to Pyramids last season.
Sundowns are due to play Espérance de Tunis next month in this season's Champions League semi-finals.
Orlando Pirates have reclaimed the top spot in the Betway Premiership with a 6-0 win over TS Galaxy, although Sundowns are one point behind with a game in hand. Could that tempt the King?
This season's Buccaneers are arguably the most exciting side in the Premier Soccer League (PSL). Pirates' identity is built around pace, directness, and width, which is essentially a description of Salah at his best. The club's attacking philosophy centres on direct, forward-thinking wingers who take opponents on and look to drive at goal at every opportunity. This is a profile Salah embodies more than almost any player of his generation.
The Soweto Giants also boast one of the most feverish supporter cultures on the continent - a famous fanbase nicknamed "the Ghost". The idea of Salah in black and white, pulling apart defences, is a mouth-watering one. The energy of that environment would likely invigorate a player who has visibly fed off crowd adulation throughout his career.
Orlando Pirates fans never disappoint with the matchday get-ups. Imagine them in Egyptian outfits... PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images
The 'slight' demerit compared to Sundowns? Pirates are still chasing their first league title in over a decade, and their squad depth, while improving, does not quite match Sundowns' level. There is also the question of whether their transitional, press-heavy system would get the absolute best from a player who, in his prime, operated best in structured, possession-based football.
Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou -- a former Fulham defender -- could not find a way to fit Tshegofatso Mabasa into his system on a regular basis, with the striker subsequently loaned to Stellenbosch FC.
While Salah would surely receive more accommodation, Mabasa's plight shows that at Pirates, the natural fit is an attacking player who presses and contributes to the team in ways which are not the Egyptian King's strongest suit.
Still, the sight of Salah gracing Esgodini is one which would be the stuff of dreams.
From a branding perspective, Chiefs are an institution worthy of this sort of signing. Salomon Kalou -- who played for Chelsea, one of Salah's former clubs -- has expressed his admiration for Amakhosi. However, this is not one of the better chapters in their storied history from a football perspective.
Chiefs have finished outside of the top eight for two consecutive seasons for the first time in their history, and their current rebuild is still in its early stages, with teething pains under current co-coaches Khalil Ben Youssef and Cedric Kaze.
The tactical coherence that would bring the best out of Salah simply does not exist yet at Naturena. While Chiefs are showing balance between youth and experience this season, they remain a club in transition rather than one ready to be supercharged by a player of Salah's profile.
play
1:50
Marcotti: 'Good news' for Liverpool to get closure on Salah situation
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens react to the news that Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool at the end of the season.
This one is for the romantics (unlike the rest of this list, which is totally realistic...). Cape Town is arguably South Africa's most beautiful city, and Stellenbosch FC - a team from another beautiful nearby town - have earned genuine respect in the league for their progressive identity.
Under Gavin Hunt, who arrived in December 2025, the club has turned a potential relegation battle into a genuine push for a top-eight finish. Previously, Steve Barker led them to last season's CAF Confederation Cup semi-finals.
Hunt has made clear he does not subscribe to modern football's data-driven approach, instead believing that this trend has diluted the essence of the game - which is at odds with the kind of analytically sophisticated environment that would extract the maximum from a player as technically nuanced as Salah.
Hunt's teams are organised and combative, but they are not built around creating the specific conditions - high press, intricate combinations, wide overloads - in which Salah is most dangerous.
However, there is a potential benefit: Salah would likely be given free roam under Hunt, who has got Mabasa firing on all cylinders on loan from Pirates, more so than arguably any of the current Stellies coach's similarly respected peers.
The Verdict
In this delightful hypothetical, Mamelodi Sundowns is the only logical destination for a player of Salah's standards. The infrastructure is elite by African standards, the continental stage exists, and the system is sophisticated enough to deploy him intelligently.
Orlando Pirates run them close on entertainment value and would arguably produce more memorable moments - but Sundowns would produce an overall better fit.
The Egyptian King deserves a fitting stage for the final chapter. In South African football, only one club is truly built for anything remotely close to what he would bring.