Liverpool’s announcement that Mohamed Salah will depart the club at the end of the season has prompted reflection on the forward’s remarkable impact, with former defender Jamie Carragher asserting that only Thierry Henry stands above the Egyptian in the Premier League’s greatest overseas players.
The club confirmed on Tuesday evening that Salah has reached an agreement to leave upon the expiration of his contract, one year earlier than the original terms stipulated, allowing the 33-year-old to depart as a free agent. The news brings to a close a transformative nine-year spell at Anfield, during which Salah has secured every major honour available to the club.
Carragher described the impending exit as “the end of an extraordinary era” for Liverpool, adding that the Premier League will “soon be deprived of another world-class, generational talent.” The observation follows the departure of Kevin De Bruyne from Manchester City to Napoli a year prior, marking a period of significant transition for the league’s most celebrated international stars.
Since arriving from Roma in 2017 for a fee of £34 million, Salah has amassed 189 goals and 92 assists in the Premier League, a combined goal-involvement tally unmatched by any player over the same period. It is this sustained output, Carragher argues, that elevates Salah above other luminaries of the foreign-born contingent who have graced English football.
“In overseas attacking players to have excelled in England, only Thierry Henry eclipses Salah’s output and consistency,” Carragher wrote. “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.”
Carragher offered particular scrutiny to the legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo, whose two spells at Manchester United, he contends, flanked the forward’s absolute peak years at Real Madrid. “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,” Carragher stated.
In his assessment, Salah merits an automatic place in an all-time Premier League XI, forming a front three alongside Henry and Ronaldo.
Salah’s departure will see him leave Liverpool as the club’s third-highest goalscorer of all time, trailing only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt. His tenure has yielded two Premier League titles, a Champions League crown, the FA Cup, and two League Cups, cementing his status as one of the most successful players of Liverpool’s Premier League era.
Carragher, who spent his entire playing career at Anfield, revealed that the true measure of Salah’s standing was brought into sharp focus when the club recently asked him to name his ten greatest Liverpool players of all time.
“The usual suspects formed the core of my top choices: Steven Gerrard, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, John Barnes and Ian Rush,” Carragher said. “The ultimate compliment I can pay to Salah is that he was the immediate name to follow them on that list.”
As Salah prepares for his final months on Merseyside, his place in both Liverpool and Premier League history appears assured with Carragher’s assessment placing him firmly among the most accomplished overseas players England’s top flight has ever witnessed.