Paul Merson has claimed that he saw Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool decline coming ages ago.
Salah has been in poor form for Liverpool this season, with the attacker often fluffing his chances when in the final third.
This is the polar opposite of how he performed last season, as the attacker was Liverpool’s best player by a country mile.
In fact, the 2024-25 campaign was actually the best of Salah’s career, with the attacker contributing to over 50 goals across all competitions.
Despite his impeccable form last term, Merson has claimed that he saw his decline coming ages ago, with the former Arsenal ace left confused about why Liverpool offered him such a massive new deal last season.
Paul Merson says Mohamed Salah isn’t the same player for Liverpool he was last season
Almost all of Liverpool’s players have performed below their usual standards this season.
Indeed, the campaign started well with the Reds managing to win all five of their opening Premier League games, but since their last-minute winners dried out, the Reds’ shortcomings have been laid bare.
Some players, such as Hugo Ekitike, have been the shining lights among Liverpool’s first-team squad, but for Salah, that’s been far from the case.
And now, while writing his weekly column for Sports Keeda, Merson has given his thoughts on Salah’s form this term.
“The million dollar question heading into this weekend is, ‘Will Mo Salah play?’, he wrote.
“He didn’t start against Frankfurt, and Liverpool won. But this is a must-win game; if Liverpool lose, they could be seven points behind Arsenal.
“I called this a long time ago, didn’t I? I said that within six months of him signing that contract, we could be sat here thinking, ‘why would they give him that deal when they knew he would be on the decline?’
“I know what Salah did last year, but that’s in the past. Look at what Florian Wirtz did last season, that isn’t enough for him to be in the Liverpool XI now, right?
“Slot will have to make a big decision this weekend. Salah looks nowhere near the player we’ve known all these years.”
Mohamed Salah needs to prove that he isn’t finished at Liverpool despite his poor form
The 2025-26 season was always going to be a strange one for Liverpool with the passing of Diogo Jota in the summer.
Of all Liverpool’s players, Salah seems to have been the one affected most by it, and it’s likely that the tragedy has massively shattered his confidence, which has, in turn, affected his form.
However, now that Slot has debuted a new 4-4-2 system and it’s worked out, it may be time for Salah to be moved further up the pitch and to be used as a number nine rather than a winger.
That is, especially after Wirtz had his best-ever game for Liverpool on Wednesday when used as a right winger.
If Salah can even notch just one goal or assist against Brentford, it’ll do wonders for his form and perhaps get him out of his rut.
Some fans may be starting to turn on the Egyptian King, but after what he did for Liverpool last season, it feels way too early to even think about permanently dropping the attacker, even if Merson does think he’s on the decline.
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