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This time next week, Mohamed Salah will officially be a free agent.
Unless his future is resolved before then, the Egypt captain could find himself in the unusual position of contesting a World Cup knockout match without being tied to any club.
There is little danger of Salah lacking suitors when his Liverpool contract expires on June 30, nor will finances be a concern for one of the world game’s best-paid players. Yet the clock is ticking.
Several high-profile players coming towards the end of their deals have already secured their next moves, while others are close to doing so. Salah, however, remains the standout name in that particular market, with no decision — or, at least, no public indication of one — yet forthcoming.
Where he is going next is not yet known, and as his lawyer and adviser Ramy Abbas said on X a fortnight ago: “Mohamed is doing perfectly fine and neither he nor I prefer to discuss sensitive future plans with people not involved in them.”
Mohamed is doing perfectly fine and neither he nor I prefer to discuss sensitive future plans with people not involved in them. Both he and I are very private about these things. Yes, people may ask and they may get a standard polite response but that’s about it.
— Ramy Abbas Issa (@RamyCol) June 12, 2026
So where could he end up then? And which league would best suit the now 34-year-old in the twilight of his career? The Athletic considers some of the options.
Is staying in the Premier League a possibility?
First, it’s worth scratching off the suggestion that Salah may stick around at Liverpool on the back of a managerial change from Arne Slot to Andoni Iraola.
After nine seasons on Merseyside, he said his goodbyes at the end of the 2025-26 Premier League season and reversing the decision to leave — even after Egypt goalkeeper Ahmed El Shenawy told ON Sport that he “could stay” — is not a consideration.
Salah agreed to rip up the final year of his contract so he could leave on a free and, in six days’ time, he’ll be off the books and no longer receiving a salary.
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Good news, then, for Liverpool’s hard-working in-house content team who, aside from being due a well-earned break this summer, will be spared the awkward task of welcoming Salah back just weeks after giving him such an emotional send-off.
While 2024-25 was one of his most successful seasons, he is coming off the back of his worst Liverpool campaign for goals, assists and appearances. There is no room at Arsenal or Manchester City for him, and he would not tarnish his reputation at Anfield by joining Manchester United, even if an offer arrived from Old Trafford.
Aston Villa aren’t in a strong enough financial position to enter into the mix, and the Chelsea chapter was closed a long time ago, when he left Stamford Bridge in 2016 after struggling to make a proper breakthrough.
No. It feels as if the Premier League has seen Salah for the last time — cue its long-serving defenders popping open the Champagne.
Is there another league in Europe ready to welcome him?
Salah has already experienced life in Italy after a half-season loan spell at Fiorentina while a Chelsea player before two years at Roma. He built himself a pitch to practise his shooting when living in rented accommodation in the capital, but his goals were not enough to help land a Serie A title.
Returning to that league for another crack at the Scudetto would not come as a surprise, although finding a club to take on his hefty salary may be more problematic.
Milan and Juventus both missed out on Champions League football for next season, so their budgets will be squeezed, and of the teams who did qualify — Inter, Napoli, Roma and Como — many are likely to have other priorities.
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What’s certain is that Salah is still hungry for success and needs to be in a team challenging for honours. Playing for pride is not enough. He’s a winner, so there has to be something on the line.
Despite his form last season, it is too soon to say Salah is no longer capable of producing the numbers that made him such a success in the Premier League, especially as the level of opponent is likely to be inferior on his next adventure.
Fellow attacker Jamie Vardy, who is 39, noticed the difference in quality when playing in Italy last season for Cremonese after years in the Premier League with Leicester City, so Salah would certainly have a greater chance of adding to an impressive tally of over 300 goals at club level if he went back.
A change of scenery may also help in the closing years of his career, but much will depend on those around him. If he is playing out on his favoured right-forward role, he is going to need a strong right-back in place to replicate some of the qualities Trent Alexander-Arnold possessed when the two linked up together so well at Liverpool.
It is no secret that Salah needs assistance from those behind him to cover his defensive duties if he is going to be effective in the final third, and that will put some clubs off.
Bayern Munich, the dominant force in German football, are not in the running to sign Salah and are focusing on younger targets. Paris Saint-Germain, the back-to-back Champions League winners, already have a strong front line and are also keen on Liverpool’s top target Yan Diomande, 15 years his junior, while there is no indication from Spain’s big guns Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atletico Madrid that he is under consideration — even though his playing style would be suited to La Liga.
In truth, he could still be a valuable asset across Europe, and his performances for Egypt this summer will go some way to demonstrating that. Although quiet against Belgium in the drawn opening group game, he was voted man of the match for his performance, including a goal and an assist, in the 3-1 win against New Zealand in the second to help secure the North African nation’s first-ever World Cup finals victory.
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The sight of him cutting in off the right into central areas to such devastating effect in that one brought back memories of his happier times at Anfield, but, for balance, it was happening against the country who sat lowest in FIFA’s global rankings when this tournament began.
If not one of Europe’s major leagues, then where else?
Turkey? Saudi Arabia? Major League Soccer? Each has a compelling case, and plenty of cash, as well as a desire to pull in superstar names either to appease supporters or help grow the game.
Fenerbahce, for example, have a new president in Aziz Yildirim who had already discussed a move for Salah during the election process when he said the forward was asking for a salary of €20million (£17.2m; $22.8m). Yildirim added that the figure would rise to €30m with tax, and a three-year contract with the Istanbul side could reach €90m in total.
“If that is our urgent need, we will sign him. Our football committee will decide on these matters,” he said via Fanatik, but has not elaborated since.
In Saudi, the money is no longer flowing at the same speed as a few years ago, when Al Ittihad proposed an offer of up to £150million for Salah in September 2023.
As the world’s biggest Arab footballing star, Salah would continue to raise the league’s global profile, and he would not be alone, with a number of other big-name players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, closing out their careers in the kingdom.
That would, however, put an end to his competitive career in Europe, as he would be 36 or 37 after his next contract — returning to the UEFA Champions League at that stage would be tough.
MLS, meanwhile, had been regularly mooted as Salah’s most likely next destination. The league’s commissioner Don Garber said he would “love to see” him move to the United States but, again, the question would be: where?
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Lionel Messi joined Inter Miami three years ago at the age of 35 and has scored 78 goals in 91 appearances for them, a ratio Salah would back himself to match. The standard in the North American league is far from that of the Premier League, but it is improving and the U.S. lifestyle may appeal to Salah and his family.
With other free agents involved at this tournament taking the next steps in their careers — including Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva, who have joined Real Madrid, and Casemiro, who appears to be heading to Inter Miami — the footballing world is now waiting to see where Salah chooses next.
He is still good enough to go anywhere and, unless he is keeping his next move secret until after the World Cup, it will be a strange quirk to see him without a contract as he competes in the knockout stage, which begins on Sunday.