Souness feels Liverpool icon has exit ‘lined up’, with mind ‘made’ after interview blunder

Former Liverpool player Graeme Souness feels Mohamed Salah has his exit from the club “lined up” despite the fact he does not feel the forward meant to suggest he is definitively leaving Anfield.

Salah is in the final year of his contract with the Reds. He is now in his eighth season with the club, and has started well, with six goal contributions in three games.

After one of those, the winger stated that “this is my last year” with Liverpool.

Souness does not feel he meant to suggest he was definitely leaving via that comment – because as it stands, it is his last season there – but he does believe the Egyptian has decided to go.

“Me, I actually think he’s made his mind up. I think he’s got something lined up. Looking at it, I think that came out not the way he wanted, because I think he tried to recover from it further in the interview on Sky,” Souness told talkSPORT.

“You’ve got to factor in his family as well. His wife might want to go to Saudi Arabia. He might want to take his kids back to an Arab-speaking country. These are things we can’t answer.”

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Ample Saudi interest in Salah

There seems a good chance that if Salah is to leave, it is to an Arab country.

He was the subject of an an enormous approach from the Saudi Pro League last summer, and reports suggest there are three Saudi clubs preparing contract offers worth more than he makes with Liverpool.

He would be able to accept any of those and move on from the Anfield outfit at the end of the season.

As such, he might already have done so, and could depart at the end of his eighth campaign.

Salah replacements in works

It might not be a difficult job for Liverpool to replace Salah.

According to recent reports, Leroy Sane is ready to be the man to take his place, and will leave Bayern Munich for nothing in the summer to do so.

In terms of other nearly out of contract Liverpool stars, Trent Alexander-Arnold is being frequently linked with Real Madrid, who are banking on him not renewing with the Reds.

But Virgil van Dijk has himself suggested that he does want to remain with Liverpool, and one out of the three is better than none of the big Liverpool stars remaining at the end of their current deals.

Salah will leave a Liverpool legend

How Salah’s salary and output have changed throughout his Liverpool career

If Salah is to leave Liverpool this summer, he’ll do so as a legend of the club.

His 214 goals puts him third on their all-time top scorers list, behind Ian Rush and Roger Hunt.

Salah’s goals-per-match tally is the best of any of those stars, and is in fact the best of any of the club’s top 14 goal scorers, with 15th-placed Luis Suarez the first player with a better goal-per-game ratio.

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