"Don't do what you've done and go under a cloud." That's what Steven Gerrard told Mohamed Salah directly after the forward's explosive December media comments — and given how this is all unfolding, it's the most honest advice anyone gave him.
Salah's Liverpool exit is now confirmed for the end of the season. What makes the whole thing messier is the timing: he's leaving at the halfway point of a two-year contract he signed just 12 months ago. Liverpool reportedly only wanted to offer one year. Salah pushed for two. Now he's gone before it even expires.
The December moment that changed everything
When Salah aired his grievances to reporters in early December — frustrated at being dropped — it briefly looked like he could leave in January, never pulling on the red shirt again. Arne Slot absorbed the public shot, called it water under the bridge, and managed the situation well enough to keep Salah involved for the second half of the season. That composure matters. It's the reason Salah gets a proper farewell rather than a bitter exit through the back door.
Gerrard, speaking on Stick to Football, was less diplomatic about what that December interview revealed. "That told me there was an issue," he said. He believes Salah will eventually regret that moment. Hard to argue. A nine-year legacy at one of the world's biggest clubs, and the enduring image risks being a press conference grievance rather than a trophy lift.
Martin Škrtel — who left 12 months before Salah arrived from Roma in 2017 — put it more warmly after a Legends match: "Mo leaves a legacy behind him and I'm just happy that he was wearing our shirt." The two never played together, but Škrtel's read is right. Whatever noise surrounded the exit, the football was exceptional across nearly a decade.
What comes next — and what it's actually worth
Bayern Munich have already ruled themselves out. PSG, Barcelona, any top European move — none of it makes much sense at this stage of Salah's career. The realistic destinations are MLS or the Saudi Pro League, both of which will pay him generously.
Gerrard, who managed Al Ettifaq and played for LA Galaxy, didn't exactly sell either option. His assessment of Saudi's top tier: "probably lower Premier League, top Championship standard." MLS, he suggested, sits below even that — his Al Ettifaq side were "very comfortable" against MLS opposition in friendlies, and they weren't a top team in the division.
That's the destination awaiting one of Liverpool's all-time leading scorers. The football will be easier. The scrutiny will be lower. And somewhere down the line, Gerrard reckons, he'll wish he'd handled the ending differently.
