Salah ends £400k Liverpool deal early as Slot exits

Liverpool will confirm Mohamed Salah’s departure this week as the 34‑year‑old striker agrees to terminate his £400,000‑per‑week contract a year early, becoming a free agent on 30 June after a fallout with manager Arne Slot. The termination ends Salah’s wages one season early and means he can sign elsewhere after the June deadline.

Arne Slot was dismissed after the club cited his inability to replicate the 29‑goal, 18‑assist output Salah delivered in the title‑winning 2024/25 campaign, noting the striker’s reduced influence in the following season. Slot’s failure to get similar performances from the left‑footed attacker was described as one of the issues that sealed his fate.

On the international stage, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan guided Salah to the Africa Cup of Nations semi‑finals and to Egypt’s first World Cup win, with Salah scoring and assisting against New Zealand after an earlier assist versus Belgium. Those contributions contrasted sharply with his peripheral role at Liverpool.

After the New Zealand match, Hossam Hassan told reporters, “Salah worked hard on the pitch and this is something you should know.” He added, “I am maybe the first coach to let him play in a position that matches his danger, that matches his capabilities and qualities.”

National team director Ibrahim Hassan praised Salah, saying, “Mohamed Salah is a great character, a sincere man. Everyone loves him—the players love him, the staff loves him.” He highlighted Salah’s influence off the pitch, noting his role in discipline, organization and communication with teammates.

In Hassan’s system, wing‑back Mohamed Hany shuttles up and down while Salah operates inside the penalty box, rarely venturing wide. The approach contrasts with Slot’s previous tactic of forcing Salah out wide, a decision that was criticised by the Egyptian staff and deemed too late for both Slot and Andoni Iraola.