In what was a bombshell announcement of his departure on 24 March 2026, Mohamed Salah officially played his final game for Liverpool on the final day of the 2025-26 season after spending nine extraordinary years at the Anfield-based club. Despite having a contract until 2027, the legendary Egyptian will be allowed to leave on a free transfer after a mutual agreement. His future destination has not been decided yet, as Salah’s concern now will be battling for Egypt in the 2026 World Cup, held in North America. There is no question that the 33-year-old experienced a below-par period by his standards in the final season with the Reds, coinciding with the team’s form, having publicly disputed his future earlier this year and seemingly falling out with manager Arne Slot. He also gave a damning statement about Liverpool’s forgetful campaign, but even without his heyday, the beloved winger helped his club secure Champions League football.
Undoubtedly, Salah leaves Liverpool as a true legend of the team and one of the Premier League icons. Since signing for the club in 2017, he became one of the faces to transform a club struggling with the weight of its past glories into a domestic and European powerhouse once again. Salah scored 257 goals and 120 assists in 442 appearances for Liverpool, winning the Premier League twice, the Champions League in 2019, three League Cups, one FA Cup, the Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup. His goal tally is also the third most in the club’s history. Once deemed a Chelsea flop, he won the Premier League’s Golden Boot on four occasions, equalling Thierry Henry’s record and became the first player to win the PFA Players' Player of the Year three times, alongside the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year award.
Salah also broke countless records, including having the most goals, assists, open play chances, shots on target and touches in the opposition box of any player since his debut season in England and is the record scorer for Liverpool or for any English side in Champions League history, also the most appearance maker for the Reds in the competition. He is the only player in Premier League history to have scored and assisted 10 or more goals in six different seasons and the first African player to hit such incredible numbers in the league. The records have been rewritten because of some of the stunning performances the ‘Egyptian King’ provided both in the Premier League and Europe’s premier competition, cementing his legacy forever.
We look back on some of those memorable games that Mohamed Salah single-handedly dominated for Liverpool to set unmatchable milestones as he receives his farewell.
First hat-trick for the club (5-0 vs Watford, March 2018)
Mohamed Salah showed his class straightaway with his 44 goals in his debut season at Anfield in 2017-18, which is the second most goals scored by any Liverpool player in a single season in the Reds’ history, bagging some unforgettable performances. One of them came against Watford when the Reds welcomed them in March 2018 at Anfield. On a snowy afternoon, Salah unleashed his fury, where he had a hand in all the goals Liverpool scored that day and a very special occasion for him individually. It began just four minutes after kick-off with the Egyptian pouncing on a line-breaking pass from Sadio Mane, driving towards the box, floored his defender with a swift cut and found the net exquisitely with his weaker right foot in a move that will become a trademark of his. His second came shortly before half-time when he got to the end of a delightful Andrew Robertson’s cross to finish elegantly.
Before the Hornets could figure themselves out from their misery in the first half, Salah came back to haunt them, this time setting up Roberto Firmino to score with an excellent back-flick only minutes after the break. The marksman then completed a historic hat-trick in the 77th minute with another gorgeous goal helped by Mane again. Receiving a pass from the Senegalese in the box and making his familiar cut, yet still undefendable, to floor defenders again as he slotted past the keeper with his left, keeping his balance. It was the first of the five hat-tricks he delivered in the Reds’ shirt, but the winger wasn’t done yet. He took forward a pass from James Milner and played Danny Ings into space, whose shot was saved kindly onto the path of Salah, who accepted the gift to hammer home an incredible fourth to cap off a high-five, stunning 5-0 victory for Liverpool.
Routing his former club (5-2 vs AS Roma, April 2018)
Salah’s excellence was not limited to domestic competition; he also flourished in Europe, becoming Liverpool's top scorer in the Champions League. The record was established through several eye-catching performances on the stage, including the club he left to join the Reds in the summer of 2017. The side managed by the legendary Jurgen Klopp back then faced AS Roma in the Champions League semifinals that season, with the first leg at Anfield. Salah made sure to orchestrate another masterclass against his former side to define himself again. After an electrifying start with both teams creating big chances but Liverpool dominating overall, Mohamed Salah broke the deadlock stunningly, taking the ball at the edge of the box and curling in a beauty with his future teammate Alisson fully stretched, five minutes before half-time. He did not celebrate the picturesque strike out of respect for his former side but Anfield did to the fullest.
Then came the second in stoppage time. The Egyptian flicked a long clearance onto Roberto Firmino’s pass, then made a dashing supporting run to start a counterattack and the Brazilian returned the favour by being the provider with an incisive pass that the former dinked over onrushing Alisson aesthetically. That was his goal-scoring bit, but Salah is more than just a net bulger, as he provided his selfless play-making skill as well. In the second half, with Liverpool now firmly in control, Salah stayed onside to get on the end of a beautiful pass by Trent Alexander-Arnold and then picked out Sadio Mane to add a third. An exact photocopy of it happened just five minutes later, when another great piece of skill from the right back allowed the Egyptian to move inside the box and pick out Firmino this time for a simple tap-in. Salah became only the fourth player in Champions League history to score and assist two goals in a single game in the competition, joining an elite group containing Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Lionel Messi, while he became the first to do it in the semi-final stage.
Goal of the season (2-2 vs Manchester City, October 2021)
It's not just about scoring goals or assisting them, the most mesmerising aspect of Salah’s play is how he creates or pops one himself, which lives as everlasting memories in the minds of Liverpool fans and also for the neutrals who see the beauty unfolding in his game. The tip of it came in a massive battle against Manchester City, where his class and quality just oozed, with even the stoutest defence in the league unable to hold him. In that period, the games against Pep Guardiola’s men were potential title deciders and this clash in October 2021, played at Anfield in front of the usual rousing home support, was no different. It is occasions like this that Salah thrives, setting an example of being the player for the big games. The moment he created in the match became one of the iconic ones and will be among the scenes that will be in the conversation whenever he is the topic.
After both sides tested keepers at both ends, the 0-0 scoreline wasn’t going to stay for long and it didn’t, as our man received a pass on the right side as he went past the then City left-back Joao Cancelo with ease on transition, drove inside and then threaded an accurate pass in between the two centre-backs for teammate Mane to finish the chance. If that was sensational, what followed was breathtaking. After Phil Foden equalised for the visitors, the Egyptian took it upon himself to help his side retake the lead. Taking the ball close to the opposition's penalty area and surrounded by City players, he floored Bernardo Silva to enter the opposition’s box and then wrong-footed Aymeric Laporte with fantastic footwork and rifled home with his supposed weaker right foot for an unbelievable goal. That sends Anfield into ruptures with the strike later voted Goal of the Season and it was so good that Salah only went and sensationally did the same against Watford in the next game.
Fastest hat-trick (7-1 vs Rangers, October 2022)
The Champions League was the true showstopper for the Egyptian King, and his attributes were once again proven in the same month of October, in a different year. Salah’s ferociousness in front of goal came into light in a game he didn’t even start. Liverpool travelled to Ibrox to face Rangers in their fourth group game of the 2022-23 Champions League season. Salah was not in the starting eleven as he saw his team from the bench give away a shock lead to the home side inside only 13 minutes into the game. However, the Reds responded with their Brazilian star Firmino scoring to get to the half-time all square. The momentum swelled entirely towards Liverpool in a magnificent second half, with them taking the lead now through the same source early after the break, while Darwin Nunez’s strike added more comfort.
The game was practically done, but Jurgen Klopp sent in Mohamed Salah to join the party. An offer the former Basel player accepted with open arms as he unleashed his fury. A deflected clearance fell onto his path as he received the ball, waved off a challenge and beat the keeper in the near post with precision. The next one came only minutes later as he got behind a defence-splitting pass from Diogo Jota, who sadly passed away after a car accident in 2025, faked his shot to baffle the defenders, paused, took aim and then finished exquisitely into the net. The combination worked again just seconds later, with the Rangers' defence bamboozled again, with the finish this time being a magnificent curler. It was a hat-trick for Salah, but it was not just any other three-peat as he scored the fastest one for a substitute in Champions League history, taking just six minutes and 12 seconds to achieve it with pure class.
Hat-trick at rival’s den (5-0, October 2021)
October continues to give Salah, as after that starring Manchester City performance in the 2021-22 season, he came to haunt another club from Manchester in the same month. This performance by the maestro against the Reds’ arch rivals and his favourite opponents, Manchester United, was even more impressive because it came at Old Trafford. It became a nightmarish occasion for the Red Devils fans while the visiting support had one of the best days of their lifetime. Liverpool were utterly dominant in the North-West derby in that period and entered this encounter with confidence and Salah made sure they had every reason to feel that way. However, before he showcased his scoring ability, the superstar began to open the opposition defence with his excellent central movements from the wing and open spaces for teammates. In the third minute, Salah became the provider as he received the pass from Firmino, as Liverpool played through United’s press and slipped in Naby Keïta to score the opener with ease.
After Jota had doubled the lead, it was time for the provider to turn scorer. Playing a fantastic one-two with Firmino and Jota, the Egyptian’s initial left-footed effort was blocked. However, when it fell to Keïta, he realised the opportunity and dashed inside the box with his teammate returning the favour for him to smash in from close range. On the brink of half-time, the star got his double with Firmino and Jota’s hard work paying off with an effortless finish, unmarked. Salah wasted little time completing his hat-trick, taking only five minutes into the second half, as his trademark run and finish came after an outrageous ball from Jordan Henderson to play him in. Just like that, Salah became the first player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick against Manchester United at Old Trafford, inspiring a 5-0 rout, with this performance making him the highest-scoring African player in Premier League history. The player would also score six goals at this venue, a record for any opposing player, while bagging 16 overall in this fixture.
