Mohamed Salah: Physical decline or something else? The real reasons behind Liverpool star's struggles in 2025-26

Since making the switch to Anfield from Roma in 2017, Mohamed Salah has firmly established himself as not only one of Liverpool's best-ever players, but one of the greatest Premier League players of all time.

Netting 252 goals and providing a further 121 assists across his 430 games for the Reds so far, Salah now ranks third in the Merseysiders' all-time top scorers list, and holds the record for the most goal contributions for a single club in the history of the Premier League.

However, the Egyptian winger has failed to match his own lofty standards in 2025-26 and is currently on a 10-game goal drought in the top flight, reigniting debates about the potential causes for such a drastic decline, while also raising questions about his future at the club.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at the reasons behind Salah's difficult campaign so far, examining the numbers and considering the possibility of a summer transfer.

Has Mohamed Salah physically declined this season?

When Liverpool were in contract negotiations with their number 11 last term, one of the most common concerns that commentators had was the fact that any extension would take Salah into his mid-30s.

These worries were often dismissed by one side of the debate, who highlighted that the 33-year-old is often said by teammates and coaches to have an immaculate ethic in terms of fitness and conditioning.

On the other side, the idea of designating such a significant portion of the wage bill to a player that was likely beyond his peak years remained problematic.

In the end, Salah put pen to paper on a deal that represented a compromise between the opposing views: The winger would be the club's highest-ever earner on £400,000 per-week, but only for a duration of two years, with his contract running until 2027.

However, in the wake of Liverpool's failed title defence this season, the opinion that Salah has physically declined has become the default position, and has been spread by Liverpool-related pundits such as Jamie Carragher.

In reality, the Egyptian averaged 15.1 sprints per game in 2024-25, compared with 14.8 this season prior to departing for the Africa Cup of Nations in December, representing only a marginal decrease.

Meanwhile, the forward covered a distance of 9.3km on average in Premier League games last term, and with a mean of 9.7km prior to AFCON this time around, his numbers had improved at the point when criticism of his fitness was at an all-time high.

While such figures do not provide a holistic picture of Salah's physical profile, the fact that he is averaging similar stats this season to last makes it difficult to argue that his struggles are due to a natural physical decline, as is commonly claimed.

Is Arne Slot getting the most out of Mohamed Salah?

If a loss of physicality is not the cause for Salah's drop off, then it could be the case that Arne Slot's approach in 2025-26 has failed to platform the 33-year-old's strengths.

Slot has proven that he can get the best out of the record-breaking goal contributor, given that his system enabled Salah to score 29 goals and provide 18 assists (an involvement in 54.7% of the club's 86 Premier League goals) on the way to lifting the top-flight title last season.

However, with the arrival of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak, it became clear that the Reds were planning to shift the focal point of their attack away from Salah and towards a new generation of talent.

While preparing for a post-Salah future at Anfield is undoubtedly a good idea, the current reality of the situation has arguably been the main cause for the drastic decline in output from the star.

As an indicator of that shifting focus, Salah has averaged just 7.5 touches in the box each game in 2025-26, a 25% decrease from the 10 he managed on average over the prior three terms.

Proportionally, only 15% of Salah's touches overall have been taken in the box this season, as opposed to 21% last year, a stat that is directionally aligned with his reduction in goal threat, and symptomatic of Slot's decision to use the Egyptian wider than in the past.

It is also important to remember that Trent Alexander-Arnold was the key player in Liverpool's build-up before he left to join Real Madrid, and the impact of his absence on Salah - and the team more broadly - should not be overlooked.

Still, the winger has been able to score six times and assist on a further four occasions in the Premier League, meaning that Salah has been more productive than both Bukayo Saka (five goals, three assists) and Cole Palmer (eight goals, one assist), so perhaps he has become a victim of his own standards.

Will Mohamed Salah be sold in the summer 2026 transfer window?

According to BBC Sport, the possibility of Salah being sold in the summer is looking "increasingly likely," and given the money involved, it is clear to see why.

Liverpool under Fenway Sports Group have been run in a frugal manner, with the ownership not funding the club with their financial power but instead building up the Reds' own revenues in a sustainable fashion.

Last week, the club revealed that overall revenues for the 2024-25 season reached a record-breaking £703m - earning them fifth place in the Deloitte Football Money League - but a profit after tax of just £8m.

That profit may seem small, but it was in fact a significant improvement over the £57m loss from 2023-24, when the club were playing in the Europa League.

This serves to highlight the slim margins at the top of the game, and with the Reds currently fifth in the Premier League, there is a risk of regression in the future unless Slot's side can claw their way above either fourth-placed Aston Villa or third-placed Manchester United.

With that in mind, it seems improbable that Salah could remain on Merseyside beyond the end of this season barring a major turnaround, given that his £400,000-per-week contract is currently not balanced by his once-remarkable output, and both CEO Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes are unlikely to let the 33-year-old leave for free in 2027.

The numbers involved lend credence to the idea that the Liverpool legend could be sold to a club in the Saudi Pro League, whose leadership have long seen Salah as a potential jewel in the crown of their growing project.