Mohamed Salah will depart Liverpool with only Thierry Henry ahead of him in the pantheon of the Premier League’s greatest overseas players, according to Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.
Liverpool announced Salah is leaving at the end of the season on Tuesday night after reaching an agreement to let him go a year early from his contract as a free agent.
Salah has won every top trophy in his nine years at Anfield and Carragher says the forward’s impending exit “marks the end of an extraordinary era” for his former club.
The Sky Sports pundit adds that the Premier League will “soon be deprived of another world-class, generational talent” a year on from Kevin De Bruyne leaving Manchester City for Napoli.
No player has more Premier League goals and assists than Salah (189 + 92) since his £34m move from Roma in 2017 and Carragher believes he has surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo’s legacy in the competition.
“In the pantheon of overseas attacking players to have excelled in England, only Thierry Henry eclipses Salah’s output and consistency,” Carragher wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
“While many will argue the merits of players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Eden Hazard, Gianfranco Zola, Dennis Bergkamp or Eric Cantona, none of them produced the same devastating numbers as consistently, season-after-season, as the Egyptian.
“Ronaldo’s time at Manchester United, both initially and upon his return, was either side of his absolute, Real Madrid-peak years. Salah edges ahead of him when judging strictly on Premier League performance and impact. In an all-time Premier League XI, Salah is an automatic inclusion in the front three alongside Henry and Ronaldo.”
Where does Salah rank among Liverpool greats?
Salah will leave Liverpool as the club’s third highest scorer behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt and one of Anfield’s most succesful players of the Premier League era.
The Egyptian has won the Premier League twice, the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Carragher believes the 33-year-old should be considered among the greatest to have ever played for Liverpool.
“The true measure of Salah’s greatness was brought home to me recently,” said Carragher. “Only a few days ago, my old club requested that I name my top-10 greatest Liverpool players.
“The usual suspects formed the core of my top choices: Steven Gerrard, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, John Barnes and Ian Rush.
“The ultimate compliment I can pay to Salah is that he was the immediate name to follow them on that list.”
‘Salah was Klopp’s inspirational leading man’
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Sky Sports News’ Kaveh Solhekol answers some of the key questions surrounding Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool exit announcement
Salah formed one part of a devastating attacking trio at Liverpool alongside Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino that defined an era for the club under former manager Jurgen Klopp.
The German coach was appointed in 2015 to turn Liverpool around after Brendan Rodgers was sacked.
It was the £34m signing of Salah from Roma in 2017 that supercharged Liverpool’s revival, the forward winning the Premier League Golden Boot after scoring 32 goals in his first season.
Salah won every top honour under Klopp as Liverpool’s leading man and Carragher believes the two will “forever be synonymous” for ending the club’s 35-year wait for a league title.
“If Klopp was the charismatic and visionary stage director, Salah was the inspirational leading man,” said the Sky Sports pundit. “His prolific goals propelled Liverpool to heights many feared would not be reached again, particularly considering the club’s standing upon his arrival in 2017.
“Alongside the equally brilliant Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino, Salah formed part of the most devastatingly effective attacking trio in Premier League history.”
Carragher added: “Aside from his prolific goalscoring and pace, there is another, more underrated quality that must always be remembered when discussing Salah’s rightful place among the greats.
“It is his extraordinary availability. Across nine seasons at the highest level, Salah has made 435 appearances – an average of just over 48 games every single year for his club. These are extraordinary numbers given the relentless physical and mental intensity with which he and his team have played for most of that time.
Nothing impresses me more in the game than world-class footballers who possess that desire never to miss a game. In Salah’s case, he would visibly sulk if he was substituted and had to miss even a single minute of action. Such demonstrations of petulance were often frowned upon by others.
“But give me the star who can’t stand sitting on the bench or in the stands over those who cannot get off the pitch quick enough, clutching a slight niggle. That hunger and resilience is a mark of true greatness.”
Why Carra wants no part of Anfield farewell
Salah’s final Anfield appearance against Brentford in the Premier League on May 24 is likely to be his last game in a Liverpool shirt.
However, Carragher has his sights set on another game for Salah’s farewell with Liverpool still in the Chamions League where they will face holders Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals.
“Every Liverpool fan has something far better and more dramatic in mind,” said Carragher of a farewell for Salah on the Premier League’s final day.
“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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