Mohamed Salah won't enjoy the dream Liverpool exit that Jamie Carragher believed was on the cards following their Champions League elimination. The Reds crashed out of Europe on Tuesday after a 2-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield, marking a 4-0 aggregate defeat to the current holders of the trophy.
The clash was also Salah's last in Europe for the Reds as the 33-year-old was left looking dejected as he clapped the fans after full-time. The forward played 83 Champions League games for Liverpool and scored 47 goals while providing 19 assists.
Most importantly, he scored the winner in the 2019 final against Tottenham Hotspur while helping the club to the two final defeats against Real Madrid in 2018 and 2022. The brutal defeat at the hands of the French champions confirmed Salah's farewell will come in the Reds' final home game of the season against Brentford in late May.
While his emotional goodbye will certainly be a spectacle next month, it was one Jamie Carragher admitted he wanted no part with. The Liverpool legend previously revealed in his Telegraph column that a more fitting goodbye to one of the club's greatest-ever players would have been capturing his second Champions League title next month.
The 48-year-old wrote: "As a soon-to-be ex-Liverpool player, he will soon come to view the place where he made his name – as I do – as part of his extended family. He will understand my point of view if or when anyone criticises Liverpool in the future.
"And he will also understand that while it is always sad when a great player leaves, no one is irreplaceable. Another Anfield hero always emerges.
"Confirming his intentions now guarantees the kind of emotional, grand farewell that a player of his standing deserves, which is why it was so critically important that neither he nor the club entertained any offers for him in the January window.
"I have one final admission, however. While I will celebrate his career, I have no wish to be part of a grand Anfield farewell after the club's final Premier League fixture in May. Every Liverpool fan has something far better and more dramatic in mind.
"Knowing Salah's mindset and competitive spirit, he will be setting his sights on the greatest of all possible goodbyes a week later: inspiring his team to victory in the Champions League final in Budapest. Do not bet against the perfect send-off."
With just six games left of his glittering Liverpool career left, Salah will be motivated as ever to fire his club to Champions League qualification. The Egyptian announced his intention to leave Anfield during last month's international break in a video posted on X.
Salah began: "Hello everyone. Unfortunately the day has come. This is the first part of my farewell. I will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season. I wanted to start by saying that I never imagined how deeply this club, this city, these people, would become part of my life.
"Liverpool is not just a football club, it's a passion, it's a history, it's a spirit. I can't explain in words to anyone not part of this club. We celebrated victory. We won the most important trophies and we fought together through the hardest time in our life.
"I want to thank everyone who was part of this club throughout my time here, especially the team-mates past and present. And to the fans, I don't have enough words. The support you showed me through the best time of my career and you stood by me in the toughest time. It's something I will never forget and something I will take with me always.
"Leaving is never easy. You gave me the best time of my life. I will be always one of you. This club will always be my home to me and my family. Thank you for everything. Because of all of you, I will never walk alone."
