Mohamed Salah is currently set to leave Liverpool this summer, but several factors could prompt the forward to dramatically change his mind. The 33-year-old is poised to end his nine-year stay at Anfield, with the Reds once again confirming his departure in the club’s retained list.
New Project Under Andoni Iraola
The first sign of Salah’s impending exit came when the winger was dropped from the starting XI in December. During a brutally honest post-match interview, Salah said: “It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus.” He also claimed that his relationship with manager Arne Slot had changed, though the pair would later reach a truce. If working under the manager influenced Salah’s shock decision to leave Liverpool, Slot’s successor Andoni Iraola offers the forward an opportunity to be part of a new project.
In May, Salah called for a major stylistic change in a social media post: “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.”
Change in Approach
It remains to be seen whether Iraola can fulfil Salah’s demands, but the manager did earn Jurgen Klopp’s approval. While Slot was criticised for his team’s cautious approach last season, the new Liverpool boss is known for a more attacking style and is also willing to accommodate individual talent, which may appeal to Salah.
“I sometimes value much more a player carrying the ball and forcing things to happen,” Iraola said to The Independent in January 2025. “I think when you play too positional – one, two touches to find a free man – you sometimes lose the initiative from the players to just take their man on and attack the spaces.”
The then-Bournemouth boss had already won over iconic Liverpool manager Klopp a year earlier. The Spanish coach endured a difficult start in the Premier League but reversed the team’s fortunes, impressing Klopp. “They turned it around, wow. That's real coaching, I have to say. He found a way to set this team up and they have a really good mix,” the German praised. “They play football in a fine direction, in the right moments. They use Dom Solanke in a sensational way, the support he gets from the centre, from the wings, the way they defend, they're really good, really compact, so that's proper.”
Liverpool Legacy
Salah has won two Premier League titles, the Champions League, and several other major trophies at Liverpool. Despite having achieved it all, there is a compelling argument for him to continue building his legacy at Anfield. The adoration Liverpool supporters have for Salah will be unmatched by any new club. The veteran forward could help usher in a new era under Iraola, while chasing down Roger Hunt to move up to second in the club’s all-time top scorer list. Salah choosing to stay at Liverpool feels unlikely, but football is unpredictable, as the Reds’ last two seasons prove.
When asked about his future last month, Salah said: “I will still see [about where to go next], I have time now, I am going to the World Cup and then everything will be clear, either if there is a good opportunity before it I will decide, and if it is not there, I will make my decision after the World Cup.”
