Liverpool fans will no doubt still be processing the news that Kop icon Mohamed Salah is to leave the club at the end of the season. Just as with Jurgen Klopp's announcement in January 2024 that he would step down after nine years, there's a tangible sense that this is the end of an illustrious era for the Reds.
All eyes will naturally be on Salah's next move. Clubs in Saudi Arabia, the USA and Europe will no doubt be primed to make a punt for the legendary forward, who will be available as a free agent, having scored a staggering 255 goals in red so far.
Yet fans can hopefully draw a sigh of relief that Salah will not join a Premier League rival or even one of their Champions League competitors. Just like Klopp before him, Salah claimed that he could never envisage himself playing against the Reds with both the Egyptian and Liverpool's ex-manager possessing too strong an affinity with the club.
Salah told Sky Sports in 2021: "If you ask me, I would love to stay until the last day of my football career, but I can't say much about that - it's not in my hands. It depends on what the club want, not on me.
"At the moment I can't see myself ever playing against Liverpool. That would make me sad. It's hard, I don't want to talk about it, but it would make me really sad. I don't see myself playing against Liverpool but let's see what will happen in the future."
Klopp took over in October 2015. He won the Champions League in 2019 before guiding Liverpool to their first league title in three decades the following year.
During his time as boss, he also won the FA Cup, two League Cups, the Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. The iconic German confirmed he would not manage another club in England after finally stepping down in the summer of 2024.
He also didn't altogether rule out a return to the Reds at some point in the future. Speaking in 2024, he said: "What I know definitely – I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool, 100 per cent. That's not possible. My love for this club, my respect for the people, is too big.
"I couldn't. I couldn't for a second think about it. There's no chance. This is part of my life, we are part of the family, we feel at home here. There's no chance to do that."
Asked again last year if he would ever return to Liverpool, Klopp said: "I said I will never coach a different team in England so that means, if [I did return], then it's Liverpool. So, yeah, theoretically it is possible."
Salah signed a two-year contract extension toward the end of last season. However, Liverpool announced on Tuesday evening that they had "reached an agreement" with the winger set to bring the curtain down on his Anfield career a year early, with Salah also releasing an emotional video.
After the bitter pill that was Klopp's exit, many fans will be suffering from an unwanted Groundhog Day-like feeling with the latest news. It's true that the modern halcyon days of the Kop are looking more like a bygone era with every departure. Yet Salah and Klopp's words should hearten fans that they will never have to see either of their heroes line up against them.
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