Eight Surprise Possible Destinations For Mohamed Salah On Liverpool Exit | OneFootball

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Mohamed Salah, three times PFA Players’ Player of the Year and four times winner of the Premier League Golden Boot, has announced that he is all set to depart Liverpool in the summer after nearly a decade in Merseyside.

Not even the most credulous of fans would have hazarded the career Salah would go on to have in the red of Liverpool. The Egyptian is third on Liverpool’s all-time scoring list, with 255 goals in 435 appearances, trailing only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.

In the Premier League, Salah’s 191 goals put him fourth on the all-time list, behind only Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney, while his creative prowess is amply demonstrated by the Egyptian taking his pride of place in seventh in the assists chart with every chance to surpass Dennis Bergkamp and David Silva by the time he is finished at Anfield.

Salah’s impact goes beyond mere numbers though, with hate crimes in the area decreased by 19% since Salah joined according to a Stanford University study.

Liverpool fans, for the first time in more than a generation, have also been able to relish the first foreign superstar to commit to the club during his prime rather than having to worry about vultures prising him away.

Salah signed a contract extension last summer to take his salary to £400,000 per week or £20.8m a year after he led the Reds to the title with an incredible 29 goals and 18 assists, after looking likely to break both the goals and Thierry Henry’s assist record for most of the campaign.

This season though, Salah has been a shadow of his former self, with both player and club stuttering. While some of it could be attributed to Arne Slot’s tactics, with Salah looking sharper when is he deployed closer to the box, the Egyptian has markedly lost a yard of pace, reducing his effectiveness on the wings.

After an outburst in December post a 3-3 draw against Leeds United in which Salah indicated that his relationship with Slot had broken down, the Egyptian’s future at the club might not have become untenable, but the ground it stood on certainly became shakier.

Speculation has followed Salah since, and things came to a natural head, at perhaps an unnatural time, when the Egyptian took the international break as an opportunity to announce his departure, having reached an agreement with Liverpool to waive the final year of his contract.

The decision allows Salah and Liverpool certainty in the summer, while saving both club and player the embarrassment of haggling over a transfer fee or the optics of the club having flogged the player to the highest bidder.

Liverpool fans would have liked Salah to continue indefinitely, but alas, all good things must come to an end.

Some destinations are obvious for Salah, such as Saudi Arabia or the MLS, but we have looked at some potential surprise destinations after the Egyptian’s agent Ramy Abbas Issa said on X that they have not decided on the next course of action.

1. Egypt

Salah would undoubtedly be afforded a hero’s return if he were to sign for a club in Egypt. The issue though is that such a move would prove to be a mismatch on both playing and financial terms.

Al Mokawloon, where Salah got his start in the professional game, were only promoted back to the Egyptian Premier League last season. Even Al Ahly, the most successful club in Africa, are unlikely to be able to afford his wages or offer enough of a challenge in the way of competitions to satiate Salah’s hunger. Al Ahly are having a tumultuous campaign and have sacked their entire scouting team following recent disappointments, making Salah an even greater luxury than they can afford now.

While Salah undoubtedly has home firmly in his heart, amply supported by the millions of donations he has made to his hometown, the move will likely be put on ice with the Egyptian still having plenty left in his tank.

2. Serie A

Salah might see some appeal in returning to Italy, with Roma already being linked.

Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Italy with Juventus after leaving Real Madrid at the age of 33 in 2018, and Salah, also 33, might follow suit to have another lease of life as a top-level player.

Wages would surely have to come into consideration, with the clubs qualifying for the Champions League next season likely to have greater headroom to afford Salah. Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli and Como in that order occupy the top four spots, while Juventus and Roma are three points off fourth.

Fiorentina, to a lesser extent, might hold some appeal for Salah, despite the Egyptian’s departure from the club coming in less than amicable terms, as they were the club that helped rehabilitate Salah’s career after a disastrous spell with Chelsea. There’s also the small matter that La Viola have been battling relegation all season.

3. Bayern Munich

A move to Germany might be appealing to Salah, with titles and Champions League participation every season virtually guaranteed with Bayern Munich.

Harry Kane, only a year younger than Salah, has been scoring for fun with the Bavarians, and Salah might lick his lips at the prospect of filling his boots if he is motivated by individual records.

His former Liverpool team-mates Luis Diaz and Sadio Mane made the same switch upon departing Anfield, and Germany might be the best bet if Salah feels he has unfinished business in Europe.

4. Premier League Stay

A Premier League stay is certainly not beyond the realms of imagination, with records at stake and the league offering the greatest visibility in terms of eyeballs.

Moves to Manchester City or Chelsea for instance, would be controversial, and while they might not burn bridges with Liverpool fans as joining Manchester United or Everton might, there is still a high likelihood that it would sully the relationship, especially as he would have to come up at least twice against the Reds.

If Salah were to want to continue in England, a move to Newcastle United, Saudi owned, could see him extend his time in the Premier League for a year before then heading to Saudi Arabia.

While wages would be an issue for a good chunk of English clubs, the Premier League remains the dominant financial juggernaut in football and ways could be found to accommodate Salah.

5. Turkey

Turkey might not be the first destination fans think of when pondering where Salah might end up next but Galatasaray, Besiktas or Fenerbahce might be a surprisingly good fit for the Egyptian, with Turkish clubs show increasing appetite for big names in recent years.

Galatasaray might be the most well placed of the trio to land Salah if Victor Osimhen is sold, but either of Besiktas or Fenerbahce might also be tempted to steal a march on their rivals in a game of one-upmanship. Fenerbahce’s president was also rumoured to have met with Salah’s agent in December.

Salah, the top-scoring African player in Champions League history and being the first to reach 50 goals, would be able to further add to his European appearances while Istanbul would also provide a gateway to Asia and the Arabic world.

6. Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain have gradually shifted their transfer strategy since Qatar Sports Investments’ (QSI) takeover in 2011. Hungry to barge into the head of the table in European competition and conversations, they brought in the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, who remain the most and second-most expensive transfers of all time, and Lionel Messi.

While domestic success ensued, silverware in Europe proved to be elusive until last season, with all of the aforementioned trio already departed. PSG finally laid hands on the trophy they had been craving for so long with the youngest starting lineup in a final in the 21st century.

Salah would represent a departure from the strategy that finally paid dividends, but PSG could also argue a mix of experience and youth is ideal. PSG would also represent a real chance of further silverware for Salah, while wages would also likely not be an issue.

7. Real Madrid

Since Florentino Perez’s first tenure, when he signed the likes Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, David Beckham and Michael Owen, Real Madrid have had a penchant for big-name signings, with the players coming to be known as Galacticos.

Of late, Los Blancos have relied on free transfers to bring in David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold, with a fee being paid for Alexander-Arnold only to allow for participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Salah, like Mbappe, would represent the best of both worlds and Perez might be tempted to bring in the Egyptian overriding any sporting concerns, especially if a sale of Vinicius Junior is forced, with the Brazilian’s contract expiring in 2027.

8. Atletico Madrid, Barcelona

Two other Spanish clubs might target Salah in an attempt to replace a departing forward.

Robert Lewandowski’s contract is expiring in the summer and for all their financial constraints, bringing Salah in might make the most sense for Barcelona. Having signed Lewandowski, Barcelona have proven that age is no barrier to them signing an attacker and Salah is four years younger than the Pole.

Julian Alvarez has been linked with a move away, including to Barcelona, from Atletico Madrid and while Salah might not be a like-for-like substitute, the Egyptian might hold some appeal, especially given that it was not that long ago that Luis Suarez, similarly brought in on a free, guided them to a La Liga title.

Conclusion

Almost every league or club, continent or competition, has its advantages and disadvantages for Salah. Taking into account Salah’s ambition and wages only complicates the scenario further.

Liverpool meanwhile have already been linked with the likes of Yan Diomande, Michael Olise and Francisco Conceicao, while Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Anthony Gordon have been targets over past windows.

Any new signing though will have to chart his own path, with the one-of-a-kind Salah remaining irreplaceable and irreplaceable on and off the pitch. Liverpool fans will wish Salah well wherever he chooses to go once Anfield witnesses the departure of another great.