The ECHO talks exclusively to Liverpool manager Robbie Fowler about Mohamed Salah’s exit at the end of the season and his first-team campaign in general.
Robbie Fowler believes Liverpool are in the best position to deal with Mohamed Salah’s late-season exit as the No.11 enters the final two months of his nine-year Anfield career.
But the legendary Fowler – who was overtaken by Salah as the Reds’ leading scorer in the Premier League over the past three years – believes the club will miss the “extraordinary” player who will go down as one of the all-time greats when he leaves at the end of May.
The Egyptian’s Liverpool career includes seven major trophies, including two Premier League titles and the 2019 Champions League, while his 255 goals on Merseyside are bettered only by Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in the club’s 134-year history.
Fowler, who sits seventh on the list with 183, believes that last summer’s recruitment drive, which saw the club spend £320m on Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, proved the Reds were preparing for life after Salah at Anfield.
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And the former Liverpool player argues the club’s history of welcoming the exits of key players bodes well for the 33-year-old calling time at the end of the campaign.
“I mean, again, you can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said about Mo,” Fowler told the ECHO. “He’s an amazing player for this football club, his numbers are amazing. For anyone to get anywhere near those numbers again, you’re talking about a very good player.
“And that’s one of the things that I felt sorry for him this year because, well, we saw that he hasn’t been the same player as in previous seasons, but statistically, if you had his numbers and you put him in another team, they would still be there. [viewed as] benefit.
“But because his numbers have been extraordinary in the past years, especially last year, people want to see that all the time. That, unfortunately, is the way the world is.
“But he was unbelievable for Liverpool, of course we thought he wasn’t going to be at Liverpool forever and it would be a sad day when he went.
“That’s the beauty of this football club, we’ve always got players to come in after the ‘choice’ if you like has left for another place.
“The team has done that for many years and at that time you probably think: “This will never be the same again.” But we have continued to do well.
Fowler, speaking to the ECHO at Anfield alongside club partners Haier, added: “Now I’m not saying we’re going to do that easily because you still have to go there to work and do the job.
“But I think the job may have been done last summer, bringing in Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, because maybe these were signed hoping to see something after Mo Salah left.
“I’ll be surprised if there isn’t some kind of change in form or style because the players who have signed will be successful in a different form and in different situations.
“Okay [Liverpool have been planning beyond Salah] because that’s what football teams need to do to grow. You can’t suddenly plan when a star player wants to leave, he has to go ahead and that’s what they have to fix.
“The timing of it was good to be honest, I thought it would be the way the season went. Maybe we needed a bit of a lift and Mo knew it was going to be his last season, not just lifting the players but the fans. It’s good for him.
“He’s been a fantastic player for Liverpool and obviously it’s a shame to see him go. It’s definitely going to be a big hit for the players and everyone. It gives everyone a lift.”
Liverpool are back in action on Saturday lunchtime when they host Manchester City in the FA Cup quarter-finals before next week’s other last-eight tie sees them host Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League campaign.
It has been a tough season for Arne Slot and his players, who find themselves in fifth place after 10 league defeats as defending champions. However, Fowler says the return to action later this month still offers plenty of opportunities for the remainder of the campaign.
“Look, I think we’d all like to sit here and say Liverpool can still win the Premier League but it’s out of our hands now, there’s no chance now in fairness,” said Fowler.
“I think at the beginning of the season, with all the players signed, I think a lot of people thought it was a chance to go back with the titles but it wasn’t to be. Some things happened in the games that have consequences, players are injured, we don’t need to get into it too much but it hasn’t been a perfect season.
“And again, if you talk about pressure, trying to replicate what they did last season was difficult, but we’re going into the final stages of the season with a chance to win silverware.
“For me, it’s the bare minimum in this football club, we have to do that every season. As we can’t win the league, there’s a chance to continue in these competitions.
“And we’ve seen enough of Liverpool in the past, not just this season but in previous ones, you never write us off. And when everyone seems to be against us that’s when you probably see the best results.”
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