Mo Salah leaves Liverpool as an all-time great - Premier League will be poorer without him

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The Premier League will be a poorer place without Mo Salah .

Salah has been fabulous in his record-breaking nine years at Liverpool and will go down as one of the all time greats. Great goals, great moments and English football has been blessed to have a player who is so talented, so entertaining and so brilliant.

He has delivered iconic moments, trophies galore and has thrilled Anfield with his skill, flair and incredible ability. Liverpool fans have sung in delight about their Egyptian king running down the wing as he has danced past countless full backs before bursting into the penalty box.

And his departure will also raise a very obvious and difficult question: who is the face of the Premier League now?

Salah, 33, has been that player throughout his time at Anfield. He is a global superstar, the biggest name, the biggest draw arguably the biggest talent.

Down the years, we have had Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Eric Cantona, Harry Kane, Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.

Now we do have Erling Haaland who is the poster boy of the Premier League and the Manchester City star will break goal records for as long as he stays in English football. But who else is there? England’s best two players, Kane and Jude Bellingham, play abroad. Lionel Messi never came to England and Ronaldo is destined to retire in Saudi Arabia.

It is a crying shame but also a harsh reality that, once Salah departs, the Premier League will lack genuine stardust. They flock to La Liga with Real Madrid and Barcelona rather than come to English football. There has been a talent drain.

It is a genuine concern that, with the exit of the all-time greats, the Premier League will be missing world class talent.

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Salah has always been able to get fans off their seats with his incredible control, skill and balance. Of all those great players, surely Salah was the best dribbler of all. Hazard pushed him close but Salah, in my opinion, the best.

That is what set him apart. His tally of 255 goals in 435 appearances is astonishing. There are so many standout goals but he almost has a personal showreel of great goals against Manchester City. And that definitely talks to Salah scoring goals on big occasions. There are always debates about players showing up in big games. Well, it is impossible to level that accusation against Salah.

Liverpool have been City’s closest challengers for the majority of Pep Guardiola’s reign and it has been Salah who has delivered big goals, big moments and match winning perfection.

His greatest goal was surely in October 2021 against City in a 2-2 draw when Salah twisted and turned, dribbled past defenders and then smashed a shot past Ederson at his near post.

That deserved to be Goal of the Season. He has won the Football Writers’ Association’s Footballer of the Year award record-equalling three times, shared with Arsenal legend Henry.

His latest was for 2024/25 when he was the best player by far, his brilliance steered Liverpool to another title and then there was an almighty clamour to give him one more contract.

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His rise from poverty in Egypt is a fabulous story. He has come a long way from his first professional contract as a 13-year-old at Al Mokawloon in Cairo which earned him a monthly salary of 125 Egyptian pounds or £3.32.

He is now a global mega star. Worshipped across the world, particularly in Africa and also the Middle East. He is surely in the conversation for Africa’s greatest ever player.

His commercial tie-ups with Adidas and PepsiCo plus mega contracts have made him a huge success on and off the pitch.

After yet another remarkable season, it would have been impossible for Liverpool to say goodbye last summer. The pressure was on for them to keep him.

Actually, the way it has played out and Arne Slot dropping him, Salah’s decline and then public fall-out after his Leeds outburst has raised the question as to whether they should have said goodbye last summer.

Always go out at the top. That is the dream. Even though Salah has had his best days, his legacy and success at Liverpool still mean he earned the right to choose his goodbye. And he will say farewell as one of the all-time greats.