Mohamed Salah sits fourth on the all-time Premier League goalscorers' list which Alan Shearer tops
Alan Shearer believes Liverpool will have no problem replacing Mohamed Salah because the Reds 'always' find a way to move on from their superstars.
Anfield icon Salah has announced he will leave the club at the end of the season after nine glorious years at Anfield, during which he has become the Premier League's all-time top foreign goalscorer with 191 strikes, and sits fourth on the overall list behind Wayne Rooney (208), Harry Kane (213) and Shearer himself.
Salah's announcement comes with him having one year left on the contract he signed last summer, but Shearer believes it is the right time for him to walk away.
"Yeah, I guess it was always going to be a difficult decision for him to leave Liverpool because he was given a two-year contract last year," the former Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and England forward told Betfair.
"He's got one year left and obviously he could sit on that but that wouldn't be the right thing to do so it's been mutually agreed after all he's done for the club and achieved and what the club's done for him and the platform that they've given him so yeah, they've come to the right decision for both parties I think.
"I've always said it's better to get off the stage when people are shouting for more and it's the right time for him. He's a great, there's no doubt about it, so it is the right time, yeah.
"He is a big gap to fill now for Liverpool, an unbelievable gap. But so was Kevin Keegan, John Toshack, Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Peter Beardsley, Alan Hansen and Steven Gerrard.
"That football club somehow has some unbelievable greats, but they always go out and somehow find another one. I mean, good luck trying to replace him, that's going to be a difficult task.
"Liverpool Football Club always do that. They've got the young boy, Rio Ngumoha so they may give him more opportunities. But I guess they'll have to go out and get someone."
However the Reds decide to replace him, Shearer is in no doubt about Salah's place in Reds and Premier League history.
"I think when you look at the big names who have graced Liverpool; Dalglish, Gerrard, I mean, there's no doubt he's in the top five of Liverpool greats," he said. "But still when you consider how many greats have been at that football club, that's some achievement.
"No one could have predicted what he's done. He's just been absolutely outstanding and held himself in the highest regard in terms of what he's done, what he's achieved, what he's won, the number of goals and assists. I mean, everything's just been special.
"Yes, there’s no doubt about it he is a Premier League great. I think when you look at the great players over the years in the Premier League, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and all these guys, then without doubt he's right up there. He's been a credit to Liverpool and obviously himself.
"He’s 33 now and unfortunately time catches up with us sometimes, as hard as it is to take but it does and maybe that's the case with him. I think he's probably earned the right to go and have another two or three years playing somewhere in the sunshine where it's not as fierce, not as ferocious and not as quick as it is in the Premier League and wherever he chooses to go, I'm sure he's still got a load more goals in him.
"The Premier League is without doubt the hardest league in the world. It's just relentless and he deserves the right to go and play another two or three years somewhere in the sunshine."
