Mo Salah‘s decline was expected – nobody can outrun time – but his sharp drop in performances has been arguably exacerbated by Arne Slot‘s tactical decisions.
The time is nearly upon us. In under two months’ time, Salah will call time on his Liverpool career after nine years at Anfield.
He started by scoring 44 goals in his opening campaign and the winger eventually transitioned into a provider as well as a goalscorer.
By 2024/25, Salah was the complete attacker and had arguably his best season yet, leading Slot’s side to the Premier League title with 34 goals and 23 assists in all competitions.
However, despite last season’s form and a new contract worth £450,000 per week, the current campaign has seen his performances drop sharply and his relationship with the head coach break down.
As a result, he will leave in the summer, with the club mutually agreeing to terminate his deal a year early.
So why did Salah’s levels deteriorate so quickly, and is it all down to him or could his decline have been mitigated by the manager?
Mo Salah’s positioning and how it affects his game
At 33 years old and having missed just 21 games for club and country over the last nine years, age was always going to catch up with Salah.
It has just been the sharpness of his decline that has surprised fans, especially given the nature of his incredible standards last season.
As a driven athlete, the winger has extended his period at the top thanks to his relentless work to keep his body in top condition.
The Egyptian has lost some of the acceleration that made him lightning fast upon arrival from Roma, but his upper-body strength and improved creativity have mitigated the loss of speed.
And this is where we come to our first pointer that Salah’s downfall hasn’t been entirely his fault.
Mo Salah: Premier League Stats Comparison
| Metric | 2024/25 | 2025/26* |
|---|---|---|
| Apps | 38 | 22 |
| Goals | 29 | 5 |
| Assists | 18 | 6 |
| xG | 25.4 | 6.8 |
| xA | 9 | 4.4 |
* Data correct as of April 2, 2026. Stats sourced from FotMob.
Yes, his individual performance levels have definitely dropped – his dribble success rate in the Premier League is down from 45 percent to 23 percent, according to FotMob – but the No. 11’s role has also changed.
In previous years, Liverpool’s wide men were renowned for their clever runs from out to in, finding space between full-back and centre-half before cutting inside to shoot or pass with their stronger foot.
Salah’s average positioning has noticeably been wider this season; Opta told us the attacker has had 15 percent of his touches in the penalty box compared to 20 percent last year.
A case in point of this came against Galatasaray at home, when Salah put in one of his best performances of the season, scoring and providing an assist.
In the first leg away from home, he was largely ineffective, managing just one touch in the opposition box.
However, the winger vastly improved in the second half as they put in a performance full of intensity that saw Salah drift infield, as the above heatmap indicates.
Poor finishing but shots taken from further away
It hasn’t just been the area of his touches, though, that has been a problem, his shots are also being taken further away from goal.
Salah took 10.7 percent of his Premier League shots from inside the six-yard box last season, compared to just 1.7 percent (one shot) this time around, according to Understat.
In addition, the 2024/25 campaign saw him take 8.5 percent of his shots from outside the box, whereas he has taken 19.6 percent from outside the penalty area this season.
This all tells us that there has been a serious problem regarding getting Salah into goal-scoring positions, but why is that?
Well, as mentioned, his decreased ability to go past opponents hasn’t helped, especially given his wider starting position.
Mo Salah: Premier League Shot Positions
| Shooting Zone | 2024/25 | 2025/26* |
|---|---|---|
| Six-yard box | 10.8% | 1.8% |
| Rest of penalty box | 80.8% | 78.6% |
| Outside penalty box | 8.5% | 19.6% |
* Data correct as of April 2, 2026. Sourced via Understat.
The absence of Trent Alexander-Arnold has also played a role, with Liverpool’s full-back options of Conor Bradley, Jeremie Frimpong and Dominik Szoboszlai all offering vastly different skillsets.
The team’s general malaise is a key factor, too. However, even accounting for Salah not being in the right positions to score, which is arguably more down to Slot’s approach than the player’s, his finishing has regressed.
This season in the league, Salah has scored with just over one in 10 of his shots inside the penalty area, whereas he netted almost one in four last year.
Arne Slot says the opposition’s style depends dictates Mo Salah’s position
Before Liverpool’s loss to Brighton, Slot was asked directly whether Salah would be better off playing more narrowly for the rest of the season.
The Dutchman offered an exasperated response, saying: “Styles make fights.
“So if it’s an open game then we will always be able to generate a lot of chances and Mo will be able to generate a lot of chances, and he will be there a lot.
“But if the game is not open or we hardly play because of time wasting or because of other reasons, then it’s harder for our players to come as many times in the box.
“So you cannot compare Galatasaray with Leeds at home or Sunderland at home, because these teams are having a completely different style and they are used to playing that style.
“But it’s always my aim and every manager’s aim to get the guys who can score goals for you as much as you can in promising positions, but I assume that’s the aim for the other manager to make sure Mo gets as less possible opportunities to be in and around the box and create chances.
“And that’s what I mean with ‘style makes fights’.”
It is still the right time to leave
The nature of Salah’s relationship with Slot, or rather the lack thereof, means this summer is the ideal time to leave.
As a motivated athlete who wants to start every match – we have seen his frustration when he doesn’t – Salah will be keen to prove he can still perform at an elite level.
However, his decision to depart may be down to him not feeling able to do it every week in the world’s most intense league.
A mutual parting of the ways feels fitting now, after a decline that has probably been accelerated due to the team’s poor form.
Liverpool now need not to replace Salah directly – though a quality winger is a necessity – but to build as a whole, a process they began last summer when Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike walked through the door.