Jamie Carragher suggests Mohamed Salah's Liverpool departure may have come "a year too late" and admits he does not want to be part of his send-off at Anfield in May. Salah will depart the Reds this summer after nine years on Merseyside.
The forward will go down as one of Liverpool's greatest-ever players, having played a key role in their revival under former manager Jurgen Klopp since his arrival from Roma in June 2017. The 33-year-old then enjoyed his best season last term under Arne Slot, scoring 29 Premier League goals and helping the Reds win a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
Salah has gone on to win two Premier League titles, the Champions League, an FA Cup. two League Cups and several other major trophies at Liverpool. But his form has dropped off dramatically in 2025/26 with just five league goals so far.
And former Liverpool captain and centre-back Carragher has explained in his latest column for the Telegraph why Salah may have been better off leaving after the Reds were crowned champions last season.
He said: "The timing of Tuesday’s announcement strikes me as both perfect and clever. There will, inevitably, be retrospective suggestions that the decision is a year too late, and that it would have been better for all parties had he sought his farewell when the club won the Premier League trophy last May."
Salah is likely to receive an emotional send-off in the Reds' final home game of the campaign against Brentford in late May. But Carragher believes a more fitting send-off would be with a Champions League victory in the final on May 30.
The 48-year-old said: "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."
Carragher also added: "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."
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