Mohamed Salah Has Transformed Liverpool

When Mohamed Salah signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2017, he arrived carrying the modest billing of a £36 million winger who had flattered to deceive during an earlier Premier League stint at Chelsea. Few could have predicted that, within nine seasons, the Egyptian would have redrawn the parameters of what it means to be a modern-day Liverpool icon and, in the process, re-engineered the club’s entire trajectory.

From the outset Salah’s impact was seismic. A debut-season haul of 44 goals powered Jürgen Klopp’s side to the 2018 Champions League final and re-established Liverpool as a European force. The strike that crystallised his arrival came on a frigid December afternoon at Anfield: collecting the ball wide on the right, Salah shrugged off Cuco Martina, darted inside, and arced a left-footed laser beyond Jordan Pickford. The goal, officially recognised with the FIFA Puskás Award, instantly became derby folklore and announced that Liverpool’s new No. 11 was no flash in the pan.

Rival supporters branded him a “one-season wonder”, yet Salah’s encore campaigns were laced with even grander statements. In April 2019 he dethroned former employers Chelsea with a 25-yard thunderbolt that bent physics and logic, sealing a 2-0 victory that kept Liverpool’s title pursuit alive. Weeks later he converted an early penalty in Madrid to set Tottenham Hotspur on the back foot, securing the club’s sixth European Cup and ending a 14-year wait for continental supremacy.

Salah’s genius has never been confined to silverware alone. His solo slalom through Manchester City’s defence in October 2021—finished emphatically with his weaker right foot—was a masterclass in balance and conviction. Old Trafford, too, became a personal playground: in October 2021 he etched his name into Premier League history as the first away player to score a hat-trick at the Theatre of Dreams, propelling Liverpool to a scarcely believable 5-0 triumph. A 7-0 rout of Manchester United at Anfield the following season merely embellished his Manchester monopoly.

Even a managerial transition could not dilute his influence. Under new head coach Arne Slot in 2024-25, Salah delivered the most prolific season of his career—34 goals and 23 assists in 52 matches. The return delivered Liverpool’s second English title and saw him become the first player to claim both the Golden Boot and Playmaker award in the same campaign, earning him Premier League Player of the Season honours.

Numbers, medals and records tell only part of the story. Salah’s enduring legacy lies in the hope he injects into every corner of Anfield, the global fanbase he has inspired, and the relentless excellence that has redefined Liverpool’s ceiling. When he departs at season’s end, the tears will flow, yet the memories—those electrifying sprints, thunderous finishes and arms-outstretched celebrations—will echo far beyond his final goodbye. In every meaningful way, Mohamed Salah has not merely played for Liverpool; he has transformed it.