Mohamed Salah: A Legacy at Liverpool

On Sunday at Anfield, as Brentford file out of the tunnel and the Kop roars one more time, a chapter closes. Mohamed Salah, nine years on from the day he walked into Melwood with a point to prove, will play his final game for Liverpool.

He leaves as the club’s third-highest scorer of all time, with 257 goals and a medal collection that dragged Liverpool out of their recent past and straight back into the elite. He leaves as the face of an era.

A once‑in‑a‑generation force

Virgil van Dijk has spent much of his Liverpool career watching Salah from 60 yards away, with the best view in the house.

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

Van Dijk has seen the numbers up close – the goals, the assists, the relentless running – but he goes back to the image of a forward who never stopped working, never stopped leading.

“The amount of goals he scored, the assists, the combination together with Sadio and Bobby, the hard work he puts in. He’s just incredible and a leader by example… a big part of the successes that we have.”

Alisson Becker, another pillar of this side, doesn’t hesitate when he places Salah in the club’s pantheon.

“I think he’s one of the most important players of the history of this club,” the goalkeeper said. “He’s on the top with so many others. His achievements, his records broken, for goals, for assists, for so many things. For time spent in the gym as well!”

The Brazilian has watched the grind behind the glory.

“Someone that works really hard, doesn’t rely only on his qualities but improves his qualities on the pitch, in the gym, at home, as everyone can see. 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 that never dipped

Those standards struck even the most decorated of teammates. Thiago Alcantara arrived on Merseyside with Barcelona and Bayern Munich on his CV, yet still found himself learning.

“I arrived in my nearly-30s there and I thought coming from Barcelona, from Bayern, I’ve learned a lot from very experienced players,” he admitted. “Suddenly, a guy with a similar age of mine, you learn a lot.”

What impressed Thiago most wasn’t just the goals or the movement, but the man.

“The behaviour and the human that was 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, the other third of that iconic front line, saw the same thing.

“He’s a good guy that everyone likes, that everyone admires a lot,” Firmino said. “On the pitch, during his time at Liverpool he built the history and legacy he is leaving. And he has a beautiful heart.”

Jordan Henderson, who lifted trophies with Salah at the heart of it all, draws a line between talent and character.

“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,” the former captain said. “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.”

Obsession with improvement

Trent Alexander-Arnold grew up as a boyhood Red and became a world-class full-back with Salah a few yards ahead of him on the right.

“A relentless drive to be better and to be the best,” Trent recalled. “There wasn’t a day in training or anything where he didn’t want to be the best. 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.”

Jürgen Klopp, the manager who built his Liverpool around No.11, knows what the club has had – and what it is losing.

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

Klopp goes beyond the pitch when he talks about Salah’s reach.

“He is an incredible ambassador for the whole Arabic world, in a difficult time we are living in. 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. That’s what he shows. And, yeah, I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Daniel Sturridge, who shared a dressing room with Salah in those early days under Klopp, saw the mentality that underpinned the numbers.

“One of the great attributes of attackers is to always feel like you want to help the team with numbers,” Sturridge said. “With the truly great ones it’s an obsession that you have to have. I think he has that and had it in abundance.”

“I don’t think anybody ever thought he would be what he’s become, besides himself. It’s testament to his attitude, to his drive, to his will, to his dedication.”

Luis Diaz, one of the newer arrivals, found himself inspired by the same hunger.

“He always wants to win titles and give his best for the club,” Diaz said. “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.”

Respect from legends

Among those who know exactly what it means to wear the shirt, the verdict is emphatic.

Andy Robertson, Salah’s partner in crime on the opposite flank, has watched him carve his name into club history.

“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,” the left-back said. “Your mentality is second-to-none and a lot of people could take note.”

“You deserve a send-off that reflects your status at LFC – the greatest. Second-to-none.”

Joe Gomez, one of the longest-serving players in the current squad, echoed that sentiment.

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

Robbie Fowler, a goalscoring icon in his own right, understands the scale of Salah’s achievements as well as anyone.

“I think he’s been an astonishing player for Liverpool,” Fowler said. “His numbers, his games, his performances, his record have been outstanding. I think he’s been one of Liverpool’s greats in the Premier League. He’s also been one of the Premier League greats.”

Ian Rush, another giant of Liverpool’s past, highlighted the intelligence that often gets overlooked.

“Not just a goalscorer but the way he plays, he’s got a great football brain in there,” Rush said. “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-setter of the Klopp era, saw a different kind of leadership.

“You need different types of leaders and Mo was a big leader,” Milner said. “The standards he set every day – not only in training, in the gym, off the field – he led, for sure, by example.”

“When you have young players coming through and players signing, it’s like, ‘This is what it is to be a top player, this is what it is to be a Liverpool player.’”

Among the game’s true elite

Steven Gerrard, the man many still view as the club’s modern benchmark, places Salah in rare company.

“When I was at my peak… I still felt there were a bunch of players that operated on a different level,” Gerrard said, naming Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

“Salah’s in that level, Salah is in that level. Don’t let anyone else tell you any different – he’s in that level.”

From the current dugout, Arne Slot has needed only a short time working with Salah to reach a similar conclusion.

“So many good players around the world and he’s definitely one of them in the last 10 years,” Slot said. “To show that hunger every three days, that professionalism, that commitment to the club, to the team, to wanting to score again, always wanting to play – when you take him out three minutes before the end, he’s like, ‘Maybe I could have scored one extra!’ – that is what stands out for me.”

“The moment I started working with him I knew it after one day… that 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 copy what he can.

“What really put him apart from everyone is how professional he is, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “Doing all the gym stuff, eating healthy, how focused he is on doing everything so that he can perform his best on the pitch. That’s what I tried to learn from him in this year.”

Pepijn Lijnders, Klopp’s long-time assistant, distils it down to one word: commitment.

“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 saw the same thing, day after day.

“I’ve never seen anyone do what Mo does – every hour of the day,” he said. “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.”

For Harvey Elliott, still shaping his own career, Salah has been a guide as well as a star.

“[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 explained. “Even to this day, me and him have a really close connection now… the way he’s handled me and put me on the path to somewhat get where I am today.”

And from one former Anfield idol to the current one, Fernando Torres leaves no doubt.

“For me, [he is a] top player and one of the best players in the last 10 years,” the Spaniard said. “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.”

On Sunday, all of that – the goals, the standards, the obsession, the legacy – walks out at Anfield one last time in a red shirt. The numbers will live forever. The question is how long it will take Liverpool to find anything like him again.