Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says it “wouldn’t surprise” him if Mo Salah left Liverpool during the January transfer window.

Speaking on his BBC podcast, Rooney cast doubt on the Egyptian’s long-term future at Anfield, claiming that his performances this season suggest he isn’t able to sustain the levels of the past:

“I just think Salah has played a lot of games over the last few years, and he’s been the main man, and he’s carried that pressure. And you’re probably in the top five great Premier League players, in my opinion. I think it looked like it maybe caught up a little bit with him.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if in January, or maybe next summer, if he does leave the club. But I’ve loved watching him, he’s such a fantastic player, but I think it’s probably just caught up, cause it does. Sometimes you don’t want to admit it but the next thing you know, you’re gone.”

It’s a knee-jerk reaction from Rooney

Salah has only played 11 games this campaign, and he has scored 3 goals and provided 3 assists. They are much lower numbers than previous years, but it is way too early to be writing him off as a ‘has-been’.

If we get to February or March and the 33-year-old is still struggling, then there may be more questions about whether his time at the top has come to an end.

Will Salah start for Liverpool against Frankfurt?

Reds legend Jamie Carragher has suggested that the Egyptian international should be dropped for either the Champions League fixture against Eintracht Frankfurt or this weekend’s match versus Brentford.

After being left out for the defeat to Galatasaray, there is a chance that Salah could be benched by head coach Arne Slot for the Frankfurt game, but we shall have to wait and see.

Read more about the Liverpool First Team Squad for 2025/26 here