NAIROBI — The roar at Anfield on Saturday was familiar, but the undercurrent of anxiety was new. When Mohamed Salah stepped off the bench to orchestrate Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Brighton, the relief was palpable—not just for the three points, but for the temporary ceasefire in a civil war that threatens to end the Egyptian King’s reign on Merseyside.

As Salah packs his bags for Morocco to lead the Pharaohs in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) this week, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has issued a stark, uncharacteristically fragile plea. His message? He hopes Salah comes back. Not just from the tournament, but to the club itself.

“Mo is going to AFCON and we all hope he’ll be successful there,” Van Dijk told reporters in the Anfield tunnel. “I hope that he stays because he is one of my leaders... But there are more parties to this situation.”

That final sentence is doing heavy lifting. It acknowledges the elephant in the room: a fractured relationship with manager Arne Slot and a standing offer from Saudi Arabia that would make Salah the highest-paid athlete in history.

The Rift: 'Thrown Under the Bus'

The tension has been simmering since October but boiled over last week. After being benched for three consecutive games—a decision Slot attributed to tactical rotation—Salah broke his silence in a scathing interview, claiming he felt “thrown under the bus” by the club’s hierarchy.

For Kenyan fans watching from sports bars in Westlands and living rooms in Eldoret, the drama is agonizing. Salah is not just a Liverpool player; he is an African institution. His £400,000-a-week contract (approx. KES 68 million) signed only this past April was supposed to secure his legacy until 2027. Instead, it has become a golden handcuff in a marriage that appears to be failing.

Sources close to the situation indicate that while the club hierarchy remains committed to the contract, the player’s camp is seriously considering a “mutual termination” clause. This would free him to join the Saudi Pro League, where a staggering £150 million-a-year deal (approx. KES 25.5 billion) awaits.

AFCON 2025: The Perfect Exit Route?

The timing of the AFCON tournament, hosted by Morocco from December 21, creates a dangerous vacuum for Liverpool. Salah will be out of the UK for up to a month, physically distanced from the daily friction with Slot but surrounded by national teammates and agents who know his worth.

• Tournament Start: December 21, 2025 (Morocco vs Comoros)
• Salah’s Mission: Seeking his first continental trophy after final defeats in 2017 and 2021.
• Liverpool’s Risk: The January transfer window opens while Salah is away, allowing intermediaries to negotiate without the distraction of Premier League football.

“The other side of it is that we all know football and we have no idea what is going to happen,” Van Dijk added, a rare admission of powerlessness from a defender who usually controls everything around him.

The Kenyan Perspective

For the local Kop army, the prospect of losing Salah is akin to a family bereavement. Since his arrival in 2017, Salah has normalized African excellence on the global stage. His potential departure to Saudi Arabia divides opinion: is it a deserved payday for a 33-year-old legend, or a premature semi-retirement?

Economically, the numbers are mind-bending. The proposed Saudi salary of KES 25.5 billion annually is roughly equivalent to the entire budget allocated to Kenya’s State Department for Sports. It is generational wealth that even a renewed Liverpool deal cannot match.

As Salah jets off to Rabat, he leaves behind a winning team but a broken trust. Whether he returns to Anfield in February as a Liverpool player, or merely to clear out his locker, remains the multi-billion shilling question.

“We all hope he’ll come back and be important for us,” Van Dijk concluded. But hope, as every football fan knows, is a dangerous thing.