teven Gerrard has issued a blunt response to Gary Neville’s suggestion that Mohamed Salah could join a Premier League rival, insisting the Egyptian would never pull on a Chelsea or Arsenal shirt.
Salah announced a few weeks ago that he will leave Anfield at the end of the season. After nine years, 255 goals, two Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues, his time at Anfield is coming to a close. The natural question is, where next?
The Liverpool legend was left unimpressed during a recent debate when Neville floated the “unthinkable” scenario of Salah remains in England after his Anfield chapter eventually closes.
With Salah’s contract situation always a hot topic of conversation on Merseyside, the prospect of the ‘Egyptian King’ lining up for a direct rival has often been debated by pundits but Gerrard was quick to shut down the theory.
Neville, speaking on The Overlap alongside Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, put forward what he called a “ridiculous” theory.
“Has he got a shock in him though? I’m going to put something ridiculous out there… could he rock up at Chelsea or Arsenal? He’s been to Italy before and he’s not going to Barcelona or Real Madrid.”
Steven Gerrard shuts down any Premier League move
Gerrard didn’t hesitate. “I don’t think he will do that [join a Premier League rival]. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another big club somewhere else, but I don’t think he would move to a rival.”
The former Liverpool captain then put his money on Saudi Arabia. “I think it will be Saudi. I’ve lived over there and knowing how he’s thought of over there, I think it will be Saudi. There’s some good players in the top-end out there and he would be playing with some good players, some very good players.”
Carragher saw it differently, tipping a Serie A move. “I could see Italy, I could see Milan or Inter. I think he thinks he’s still one of the best players in the world. And that’s almost retiring going over there in my eyes.”
Why Steven Gerrard knows what Salah is feeling
Few understand Salah’s mindset better than Gerrard. The former Liverpool skipper has been exactly where the Egyptian now finds himself, a club icon feeling his status shift.
Gerrard revealed he reached out to Salah during the difficult period. “I spoke to him around the time and sort of said, don’t do what you’ve done and leave under a cloud. I’m not that close to him but I took the opportunity to say you’ve been here eight, nine years, you’ve been king, you’ve got a legacy. So go on your terms, go the right way.”
Steven Gerrard added: “He was still I think a little bit emotional from [getting dropped]. He felt like he was in and out of the team at the time and he was upset.”
Since arriving from Roma in 2017, Salah has evolved from a “Chelsea flop” into arguably the greatest winger in Premier League history. Having won every major honour available under the Anfield lights, his status as a modern-day icon is undisputed.
While the lure of the Saudi Pro League remains a persistent cloud on the horizon, the idea of Salah returning to Stamford Bridge where his English journey began in frustrating fashion or heading to the Emirates feels like a stretch even for the most cynical pundits.
As far as Steven Gerrard is concerned, the “Egyptian King” will seek a new challenge entirely outside of England. Anything else would be a betrayal that the Liverpool legend refuses to even entertain.
Mo Salah will leave as one of Liverpool’s top three players of all time, alongside Dalglish and Gerrard himself. And whatever Gary Neville thinks, the idea of him lining up for Chelsea or Arsenal was never realistic. Gerrard made that crystal clear.
Gerrard’s defiance highlights the tribal nature of the Premier League’s elite, suggesting that Salah’s status as a modern-day Liverpool icon would make a move to a domestic rival a non-starter.
While Neville pointed to the professional nature of the modern game, Gerrard’s reaction was a throwback to the loyalty that defined his own career.
