Checkmate... Game over: Salah falls into the trap of the grand deception

It all goes back to the summer of 2017. Jürgen Klopp was leaning towards signing Julian Brandt from Bayer Leverkusen, but behind closed doors at Melwood, Michael Edwards – the sporting director at the time – presented a decisive statistical report. Edwards did not see Salah as a winger who had failed at Chelsea; rather, he saw a high ‘expected goals’ rate and physical ability that had developed remarkably during his move from Stamford Bridge to Fiorentina and Roma, where his talent had been patiently honed under the watchful eye of experts such as Spalletti.

That explosive physical and goal-scoring ability, he saw, was a perfect fit for Klopp’s “high-pressing” style.

The Egyptian player arrived for just €42 million and turned into a goal-scoring machine that shattered all records. That was the moment when the data proved its worth.

But the dramatic irony – as in a game of chess – is that the very hand that trusted the “king” and placed him on the board was the one that decided to dismantle his legend when the statistical curves began to decline.

Read also: Hassan Shehata: Salah is good enough for Real Madrid and Barcelona… and we’ll go into the World Cup without an inferiority complex

Read also: Because of Messi and Salah… US League Commissioner mocks Egypt’s national team manager 

Read also: Alarming warnings… America strikes fear into World Cup visitors

By the spring of 2025, Salah’s contract was nearing its end, and public pressure was mounting. Rami Abbas, the player’s agent, was hinting on X at astronomical offers from Saudi Arabia. In that tense atmosphere, Michael Edwards returned to the structure of the club’s owners, the Fenway Group, as Head of Football Operations: here, ambition, role and vision also diverged, with Richard Hughes coming in as Sporting Director to establish the post-Klopp era, as Klopp had already announced his departure before their arrival.

To put it more plainly, Edwards was no longer responsible for just one team, but for an entire system (for the Fenway Group) and financial and sporting sustainability over several years and perhaps across several clubs.

Salah’s departure at that time, on a free transfer, would have meant a significant financial loss coinciding with their arrival and potentially throwing everything into disarray; therefore, all indications suggest that Edwards made a tactical decision: to renew the contract and weather the storm whatever the cost, especially as Salah and his agent had put the club and its management under public pressure given his stunning figures at the end of last season.

Salah signed a new two-year contract in April 2025, with a salary of up to £400,000 a week, plus performance-related bonuses.

The official photos looked celebratory, but behind the scenes the aim was clear: to protect the value of the ‘asset’, and then let the technical decision on the pitch decide the outcome.

Read also: Morocco wants it all: never-ending dreams... and a trump card for the 2030 World Cup

Read also: Will Saudi clubs make up for it?… Salah gives up a fortune

With the arrival of Arne Slot as manager, the philosophy changed. The team adopted a ‘one-team’ approach, with no room for a ‘superstar’ and a focus on strong signings and significant spending in the summer transfer window.

Over time, Salah’s physical data – monitored weekly by the management – began to show a decline in certain attacking indicators, such as his touches inside the penalty area (a drop of up to 25% according to some analyses). It wasn’t personal, but tactical: the system came first.

Slott implemented a systematic rotation policy. Salah sat on the bench in crucial matches, and his role diminished. 

Then, in December 2025, following the 3-3 draw against Leeds United – a match in which he remained on the bench for a long period – Salah exploded in public statements in which he directly accused the club: “The club wanted to throw me under the bus as if I were the problem here. I’m not.”

He then uttered the pivotal sentence that exposed the conspiracy after he had been led to believe his wishes had been granted and his contract renewed: “It’s very clear that someone wants me to take all the blame. Someone doesn’t want me at the club,” pointing the finger at those behind the scenes implementing a plan to sideline him, the true nature of which he had not realised at first.

The player felt disrespected, whilst the press close to the club focused on the team’s improved results in certain periods without relying entirely on him.

His image gradually shifted from that of the “wronged king” to that of a “star earning an astronomical salary who struggles to adapt to defensive demands”, and he was subjected daily to a fierce media onslaught led by Jamie Carragher, Rooney, Scholes and others.

In the end, Salah lost some of his unconditional fan support, and the management succeeded in shifting the debate from “Why is the team’s legend being sidelined?” to “Is the player’s interest more important than the team’s?”.

Read also: A precious gift for Europe’s elite… Will Real Madrid snatch Kubarsi’s partner?

Read also: From the bottom of the qualifiers to the World Cup... Sweden makes history with a Nations League miracle

Financially, the plan was a success. Had Salah left on a free transfer in 2025, the club would have lost his market value, estimated at between €70 million and €100 million; however, by renewing his contract, Edwards preserved his theoretical ‘resale value’, whilst the mutual agreement between the club and the player allowed for an early departure without a transfer fee.

According to the British newspaper The Sun, during the negotiations that led to the renewal of Salah’s contract last summer, the Egyptian player requested a loyalty bonus of £20 million (around €23 million), as the contract was set to run until the summer of 2027.

In the new agreement reached by both parties to terminate the contract, Salah waived this bonus in exchange for being allowed to leave this summer.

What is the result? A massive saving on wages, plus greater flexibility regarding financial fair play rules at the end of the season, all of which paves the way for the summer of 2026, which could see significant spending to build a ‘post-Salah’ squad and finally move away from Klopp’s shadow.

In the end, Mohamed Salah’s journey did not end with the usual tears at Anfield; rather, the ‘Egyptian King’s’ announcement of his departure was a quiet, formal farewell.

Edwards unleashed the “goal-scoring beast” in 2017, trusting in the precision of the data, and when he began to drain the club’s resources and tactical space from a purely managerial and economic perspective, he decided to dismantle him with the same precision.

Salah leaves believing he has chosen the moment, but the truth – as is the case in the corridors of Liverpool – is that “the system” drew the lines to ultimately declare with complete ease: Checkmate… the game is over.