All of a sudden, the Liverpool squad that achieved so much success between 2018 and 2022 is evaporating before our very eyes.
What started as a minimal change to personnel has now become a huge one, truly signalling the end of a special era at Anfield.
While Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah are still hugely important figures for the Reds, making up almost half of the strongest XI, there is a real feel of change in the air, not least in midfield.
A few of those mentioned don’t appear to be going anywhere for now – Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold have just been confirmed as Liverpool’s new captain and vice-captain, so it would be a shock of either left for a number of years – but when it comes to Salah, it could be a different story.
The Egyptian King has arguably been the biggest superstar of the Jurgen Klopp era, along with the manager himself, arriving in 2017 at a time when some even wondered if he was simply a backup option to Mane in attack.
Six years on and Salah has broken countless records, inspired Liverpool to numerous trophy wins and become one of the most recognisable footballers on the planet, both on and off the pitch.
At times, he has single-handedly dragged the Reds through games and the level of consistency he has shown is astonishing. To rack up 186 goals in 305 appearances is a testament to that, not to mention registering 74 assists, which silences those who bizarrely claim his game is ‘only about goals’ and that he ‘only cares about his scoring stats’.
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As another new season beckons, Salah again goes into it as possibly the first name on Klopp’s team sheet. While Luis Diaz, Darwin Nuñez, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo don’t necessarily feel like absolute nailed-on starters, the 31-year-old will walk into the starting lineup in the vast majority of matches.
But the question remains: are we about to watch his last season in a Liverpool shirt?
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