Mohamed Salah's Farewell: A Legacy at Liverpool

Anfield prepares to say goodbye. Not to a cult hero or a fleeting star, but to a figure who has bent an era to his will.

On Sunday, against Brentford, Mohamed Salah will walk out at Anfield for the final time as a Liverpool player, closing a nine-year spell that has redefined what greatness looks like in red. Two Premier League titles. A Champions League crown that broke a 14-year wait. And 257 goals – a number that plants him third on Liverpool’s all-time scoring list and firmly in the club’s pantheon.

The numbers tell one story. The people who lived it with him tell another.

A once-in-a-generation force

Virgil van Dijk has shared the stage with some of the game’s elite. His verdict on the No.11 is blunt and heavy with respect.

“There are so many words that can be said about him. He’s been an incredible football player, so influential. Absolute special player. Once-in-a-lifetime player, in my opinion,” the captain says.

Van Dijk has seen the work behind the highlight reels – the goals, the assists, the relentless pressing, the famous trident with Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino. “He’s just incredible and [a] leader by example in the things that he does. An incredible player and someone that’s so important for the football club over all those years and a big part of the successes that we have.”

Alisson Becker, the man who watched Salah from 90 yards away and often had the best seat in the house, places him at the very top of Liverpool’s history.

“I think he’s one of the most important players of the history of this club. He’s on the top with so many others,” the goalkeeper says. Goals, assists, records – Alisson lists them off – but then points to something less visible: the hours in the gym, the discipline at home, the obsession with improvement. “Mo leaves here a legacy as well about standards. He’s someone that you can tell your kids, ‘Look to this guy. If you want to be someone good you can follow him on the things that he does.’”

Standards, not stardom

Those standards didn’t just shape matches. They shaped dressing rooms.

Thiago Alcantara arrived from Barcelona and Bayern Munich, steeped in elite environments. Even he found something new in Salah.

“Suddenly, a guy with a similar age of mine, you learn a lot,” Thiago admits. Not just about the game, but about the person behind the player. “Amazing human being, amazing professional. Keeps you hungry as well all the time. One of the best teammates I ever had.”

Roberto Firmino, who formed the heart of Liverpool’s modern front line, speaks of a man adored inside the squad as much as he was idolised on the Kop.

“He’s a good guy that everyone likes, that everyone admires a lot,” Firmino says. On the pitch, he watched Salah build “the history and legacy he is leaving” and off it he saw “a beautiful heart”. “I’m grateful to God for having the privilege of playing alongside Mo Salah.”

Jordan Henderson, the captain who first lifted trophies with him, draws the line between greatness and something rarer.

“He wanted to be the best player. He probably wanted to break all those records, but he wanted the win for the team as well,” Henderson recalls. “There’s a difference between being the best player, and being the best player and the best human being – and I feel like Mo is both of those.”

Trent Alexander-Arnold, the local lad who grew up alongside Salah’s prime, saw the daily grind up close.

“A relentless drive to be better and to be the best,” he says. “Every single day he had a drive to keep getting better and better. He was never satisfied. Even with every record that he shattered, there was always something else he was chasing. Incredible.”

Klopp’s ‘all-time great’

Jürgen Klopp built a dynasty with Salah at its cutting edge. For the manager, this is not just the end of a chapter; it is the closing of a book he never wanted to finish.

“We will realise – I think we know already, we have a sense – we saw greatness. And that’s what he is,” Klopp says. “He’s an all-time great, he’s an incredible football player, he’s an incredible guy.”

Klopp goes further, framing Salah’s impact beyond football. An icon for the Arabic world in a fraught era, a unifying figure in a divided landscape. “You have this guy who shows like, yeah, here we go, we’re all the same, we’re all together, we love the same things, we fight for the same things,” Klopp says. “And, yeah, I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Daniel Sturridge, an elite forward in his own right, recognises the mindset that separated Salah from the rest.

“With the truly great ones it’s an obsession that you have to have,” Sturridge explains. “I think he has that and had it in abundance.” For Sturridge, Salah “achieved above expectations” – perhaps the only person who truly believed he would reach this level was Salah himself. “It’s testament to his attitude, to his drive, to his will, to his dedication.”

Luis Diaz, one of the newer faces in the forward line, felt that drive immediately.

“He always wants to win titles and give his best for the club,” Diaz says. Sharing those moments, seeing how much Salah enjoyed the success, left a mark. “Always wanting to be a better player, a better person. That leaves a profound mark on you and he left a profound mark on me.”

Andy Robertson, who has sprinted up that left flank in tandem with Salah for years, frames it in the starkest of terms.

“Watching you become the best at what you do and become one of the best to ever have worn the Liverpool shirt has been a joy to watch and be part of,” Robertson says. He calls Salah’s mentality “second-to-none” and his send-off simple: “You deserve a send-off that reflects your status at LFC – the greatest. Second-to-none.”

Joe Gomez, the quiet constant at the back, doesn’t hesitate.

“One of the greatest to ever wear the shirt,” he says. “Everyone knows about your mentality and work ethic – the numbers just cement your legacy forever.”

Judged by legends, accepted as one

When Liverpool’s greatest strikers talk about you, you’ve entered rare air.

Robbie Fowler, once the standard for ruthless finishing at Anfield, is unequivocal.

“I think he’s been an astonishing player for Liverpool,” Fowler says. “I think he’s been one of Liverpool’s greats in the Premier League. He’s also been one of the Premier League greats. So not only will the Liverpool fans miss him, but I think fans of the Premier League will miss Mo Salah as well.”

Ian Rush, the club’s record scorer, sees more than just a finisher.

“Not just a goalscorer but the way he plays, he’s got a great football brain in there,” Rush says. “When Mo’s going down that wing, he’s absolutely incredible. All Liverpool fans will love him and be sad to see him leave.”

James Milner, the standard-bearer for professionalism in the Klopp era, found in Salah a kindred spirit.

“You need different types of leaders and Mo was a big leader,” Milner insists. “The standards he set every day – not only in training, in the gym, off the field – he led, for sure, by example.” For new signings and young players, Salah became the living definition of what it meant to be “a top player” and “a Liverpool player”.

And then there is Steven Gerrard. The man who once carried Liverpool on his own shoulders now places Salah among the untouchables.

In Gerrard’s playing days, there was a small group he considered to be operating on a different plane: Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Xavi, Andres Iniesta. “Salah’s in that level, Salah is in that level,” Gerrard insists. “Don’t let anyone else tell you any different – he’s in that level.”

Obsession, professionalism, legacy

Arne Slot, who has only recently started working with Salah, needed barely a day to understand why the numbers look the way they do.

“So many good players around the world [and] he’s definitely one of them in the last 10 years,” Slot says. What stands out to the new head coach is simple: hunger. Every three days. Every minute. Even when taken off in the 87th minute, Salah’s first thought is whether he could have scored one more. “It isn’t a coincidence that he’s been so influential in the last 10 years in football.”

Milos Kerkez, still at the beginning of his own journey, has tried to absorb as much as possible.

“What really put him [apart] from everyone is how professional he is, it’s unbelievable,” Kerkez says. Gym work, diet, focus – all calibrated to squeeze out another level. “That’s what I tried to learn from him in this year, also to pick it up. He is just unbelievable in that.”

Pepijn Lijnders, Klopp’s long-time assistant, strips it down to one core trait.

“I never met a guy – a player but also a human being – who is more committed to the life of being a professional football player.”

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who shared the dressing room through the early years of this cycle, admits Salah’s lifestyle sits on the edge of humanly possible.

“I’ve never seen anyone do what Mo does – every hour of the day,” he says. “To the point where I straight up look at him and think, ‘I don’t think I could do that and fair play, you deserve everything you do.’ It was obsession.”

Harvey Elliott felt that obsession in a different way. For him, Salah was mentor first, superstar second.

“[Salah] was giving me pointers like what I needed to do, how I needed to do things, the philosophy of how we play, and what the manager wants,” Elliott explains. Over time, that guidance turned into something deeper. “Even to this day, me and him have a really close connection now. And I’d say it’s more of a friendship than him just trying to help me out.”

Fernando Torres, another former No.9 who once lit up Anfield, has long made his stance clear.

“For me, [he is a] top player and one of the best players in the last 10 years,” Torres says. “I always say this, [he is] my favourite player [and] I put him among the best players in the world in the last 10 years.”

Farewell to the King

On Sunday, when Salah steps out against Brentford, Anfield will not just be saying goodbye to a winger who scored goals. It will be saluting a standard, a mentality, a nine-year stretch where one man’s obsession dragged a club back to the summit of Europe and England.

The tributes from teammates, legends and coaches sketch the same picture from different angles: a once-in-a-lifetime player, an unshakeable professional, a figure whose legacy stretches from the Kop to kids watching him across the world.

The goals will fade into compilations. The records will sit in history books. The question that will linger is sharper: how long will it be before Liverpool see another No.11 like Mohamed Salah?