It almost got lost amongst the avalanche of tributes and kind words towards Mohamed Salah on Tuesday evening, but Florian Wirtz's contribution on Instagram was both short and sweet.
"It was a pleasure till now."
For the players of course it has, although results may suggest otherwise. Wirtz is one of very best emerging players in the world, and his exposure to Salah's dedication and professionalism, even if it will only be for one season at Liverpool, will only stand him in good stead for the rest of his career.
Salah, too, will have enjoyed linking up with Wirtz, as seen in the clever one-two with the German before his picturebook, rolling back the years goal against Galatasaray last week, as well as Wirtz's most recent Reds strike in the 4-1 win over Newcastle at the end of January when he was picked out by Salah's precise pass.
It hasn't always been this way though.
It was back in October at Frankfurt when Salah, omitted from Arne Slot's starting line-up for the second successive Champions League game, passed up the opportunity to put a goal on a plate for Wirtz, then on game 12 of what would be his 22-match scoreless start to his Anfield career.
To some it was just a harmless moment at the end of a 5-1 win, but it was one that stayed with Jamie Carragher.
"Where he really let himself down, in my eyes, was this season in Frankfurt," said the irked Sky Sports pundit shortly after Salah's infamous outburst at Leeds in December.
"Where there's a guy who signed for Liverpool who needs a goal more than anyone, Florian Wirtz. Instead of being a great player for the club, be a great ambassador for the club and roll that ball to him for an easy tap-in and go over and give him a hug and say, 'You're the guy that's going to take this Liverpool team forward. I don't need any more goals'."
Salah would always need more goals though, and that desire is what has driven him to become the player that captured Anfield hearts over the past decade.
But when it comes to who replaces him in the estimation of supporters as the team's go-to player, Wirtz is primed to take up the mantle and take it in a different direction. He's already had a briefing from the man he'd be replacing, too.
"Mo always tried to speak with me," said Wirtz in his 'Reds Roundtable' interview with official club channels earlier this month, as he discussed the players who helped him settle in to his new environment in the summer.
"He came also young to Liverpool and he tried just to speak to me and bring myself in the best position to make me feel... free you know?"
And getting Wirtz playing and feeling free is, you think, going to be the key to Liverpool's post-Salah world. As the Adidas billboard in front of St John's Beacon proclaimed in the summer, the Reds have signed a Superstar. After a period of acclimatisation gave way to sustained brilliance in his performances from around December, it is now time for him to take a giant step forward and make this side his own.
He'll have help, of course. Dominik Szoboszlai, a strong candidate for vice-captain should Andy Robertson depart as well as Salah this summer, has come on leaps and bounds this season, Hugo Ekitike will benefit from the hard yards he's put in during his first season in English football and Alexander Isak will score goals when he's fit and ready to.
There will be new signings as well, a speedy, diligent right winger who can open up the pitch perhaps chief amongst them. A sturdier, defensive minded midfielder might help too.
None of them, regardless of Isak's price tag, quite hold the status of Wirtz though, and while Salah's rise to prominence happened by sheer force of will, his had already begun before he took the road less travelled and snubbed the expected move to Bayern Munich last summer.
“It was not that easy for me, for sure, because I am a German player, I play for the Germany national team,” Wirtz admitted upon joining Liverpool.
“I just thought that it was the right point in my career to make the next step. I wanted to get to a club that is from the top three in the world, and in my opinion Liverpool was one of them."
If Liverpool have been on that podium over the past decade then Salah's efforts have played a large role in getting them here.
Now he passes the baton to Wirtz, and a new story waits to be written.
Mark is a Content Editor at Reach PLC's Liverpool Hub, and was appointed to the role in 2025. Prior to that appointment he worked solely for the Mirror for nine years, primarily in the role of Sports Features Editor. An experienced sports writer and editor, Mark worked for the Mirror at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and at Euro 2024 in Germany. A regular contributor to podcasts and videos, his work can be seen both in print and online, and his exclusive interview with the Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk in April 2024 is one of many successful projects Mark has completed for Reach PLC.
