Mohamed Salah Q&A: Who made the call for the Liverpool star to leave? What do Liverpool and the player do now and does it affect Arne Slot's future?

Mohamed Salah's shock announcement that he is leaving Liverpool is the big story of the week. But the real question is: what now?

The Egyptian forward - who will go down as one of Liverpool's greatest ever players - will depart at the end of the season, after nine stellar years at the club.

It opens up a huge summer ahead for the player and the club. How do Liverpool move on? What do Liverpool do now? And does it affect under-fire head coach Arne Slot?

Sky Sports' transfer desk answers all the key questions regarding Salah, Liverpool and what happens now...

Who made the decision for Salah to leave?

Sky Sports News understands it was very much a joint decision between Liverpool, Salah and the player's representatives. This feels like a situation that suits everybody.

What you've got now is both parties very clear on the summer ahead. Salah knows that he's in the market for a new club. Liverpool know that they're in the market to find a new attacking forward.

The money Liverpool had ringfenced for his wages for the forthcoming season will now be available for them to spend on a new player.

And any potential transfer fee that Liverpool would have gained by selling Salah, the player now knows that that fee will come to him as part of his package. That suits Salah because it gives him a greater ability to engineer the right deal for himself moving forward.

Also, this being announced so soon gives Liverpool, the club and the fans the opportunity to show their appreciation between now and the end of the season - and give him the send off he deserves as one of Liverpool's greatest ever.

And on top of that, Liverpool could still end up finishing this season with two trophies. There's a good chance that Salah will play a part in winning either of those if they do go on to win them.

Everyone knows between now and the end of the season, it's the Mo Salah farewell tour.

Do Liverpool regret giving Salah a new contract?

No. Clearly, this season hasn't been Salah's most effective and his impact on the team has not been at the level it was in previous years.

Liverpool signed Salah to a two-year contract in the summer of 2025 on very lucrative terms. Salah became the highest-paid player in Liverpool's history and he warranted that because of his performances last season.

Today, a lot of people would say it was a bad move signing Salah on a new contract. But if you spoke to any group of football fans last summer and said: What should Liverpool do with Mo Salah? After the season he had, 99.9 per cent of people would say: you have to keep him.

With hindsight, Liverpool were actually in a lose-lose situation. If they'd not signed him to a new deal, people would have said: Why are you letting this player go?

And if Liverpool do sign him and he doesn't have an effective season - which looks like the case now - people would say: Why did you sign him?

Liverpool did what they believed to be the right thing.

Does Salah's decision to leave impact Arne Slot's future at all?

Slot's future will have no bearing on the Salah situation.

Liverpool have a long-term contract with Slot and right now they'll be focusing on finishing the season by trying to win two more trophies.

If Liverpool go and win the FA Cup and Champions League, you'd imagine Slot would be going nowhere.

Right now, Liverpool are not thinking about what will happen in the summer.

What do we know about Salah's next move?

Rami Abbas - Salah's agent - has made it very clear: they don't know what's going to happen, so no one else can know for sure. But there are lots of options.

Everyone will immediately point towards Saudi Arabia. There are four sides in the Saudi Pro League that are under the guise of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), who have tried to sign Salah before.

Some of those PIF teams already have big superstars. Some of them don't. But it would certainly be the four PIF-owned franchises in Saudi that would be at the front of the list.

You would see him fitting into Al Ittihad more than anywhere else. They're having a bad season but are reigning champions.

They lost their star player, Karim Benzema, who moved to Al Hilal in January. They need a star name and have tried to sign Salah in the past. In 2023, they made a verbal offer of £150m which was rejected. You would think they are favourites.

Cristiano Ronaldo has complained that Al Nassr haven't been active in the transfer market. But does he want another superstar alongside him there? Al Hilal and Al Ahli are the two other Saudi PIF-led clubs.

But Major League Soccer in the United States is another huge opportunity for Salah. Antoine Griezmann will move over there this summer and, after the impact Lionel Messi had in the United States, there are clubs there that would love to have someone of Salah's calibre.

So the Saudi clubs would be at the front of the list and that's where everyone would expect him to go. But the Saudi offer will never disappear, so he might want to explore another opportunity and then visit Saudi later on in his career.

Is Europe an option for Salah?

There will be a number of LaLiga clubs and there will be a number of Serie A clubs that will be looking at Salah.

Paris Saint-Germain - who Liverpool face in the Champions League quarter-finals - are a maybe, but signing a huge star goes away from what has brought them success in the last 12 months.

They used to buy the best players they possibly could. Now they've realised that actually the Parisian home-grown, younger players bring a better team spirit than having individuals and superstars.

A series of conversations will be held across Europe, across the big clubs, about whether they could afford Salah and whether he would be the right fit for their club.

It's up to Salah on whether Europe is an option. If he wants to go and play for PSG and he's happy to play for £200,000-a-week, then so be it. If he wants £1m-a-week, then that limits his options. It's just about what's right for him and his family.

But it's worth remembering that Salah was a free transfer last summer. Everyone knew until April last season that he was available for nothing - and he chose to stay at Liverpool.

If he had all that big money on the table, which he would have undoubtedly had, why didn't he take it? Money's not his only motivator.

What do we know about Liverpool's Salah succession plan?

Liverpool's succession plan is unknown at this stage.

They will not be looking at getting a like-for-like replacement. They will be looking at the player that fits the system and that depends on the system - and whose system - they decide to play.

It is believed they will be looking at a player that can complement Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike. It won't just be a right-sided left-footer that does what Salah did.

Liverpool will try and find a solution and that may look like a different type of player altogether. But if that player fits into the next version of Liverpool, then that's what they will be looking to do.