Graeme Souness gives brutal Mohamed Salah verdict as icon 'drops off a cliff'

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness believes Mohamed Salah's performances for the Reds this season have 'dropped off a cliff' due to his age

Mohamed Salah and Liverpool were dumped out of the Champions League on Tuesday night by PSG(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness reckons the reason for Mohamed Salah's declining performances for the Reds this season is due to his age.

The 33-year-old's time on Merseyside will come to a close at the end of the 2025/26 campaign, just a year after he fired Liverpool to a second Premier League title. Having been crowned the Premier League's best player last season, Salah has looked a shadow of the player he was last term.

Salah, who was surprisingly benched ahead of Liverpool's Champions League quarterfinal defeat to PSG, has scored 11 goals in 36 appearances, numbers which, on paper, do not look awful. However, last season he scored 34 times in 52 games, underlining just how much his performances have dropped off.

There are, of course, a number of mitigating circumstances for Salah's drop off. The departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold on Liverpool's right-hand side can not be understated.

Neither can the lack of cohesion in attack for Liverpool this term, with Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz struggling during their first seasons on Merseyside.

However, in Souness's eyes, the biggest factor in Salah's decline is due to one thing: his age.

Salah has played his final Champions League game for the Reds(Image: Getty Images)

While the former Liverpool captain believes the Egyptian is undoubtedly one of the Reds' best players of all-time, Souness reckons Salah's age is the primary reason behind his performances "dropping off a cliff".

Speaking on Amazon Prime ahead of Liverpool's 2-0 Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, Souness, who was joined by former Reds skipper Jordan Henderson, said, "If you're picking an all-time Liverpool great team, he's in it. He's definitely in it."

That then prompted Henderson to add, "Sir Kenny Dalglish and Stevie G are the two that are hard to knock off the top spot, but Mo is certainly in that category."

Graeme Souness believes Mohamed Salah's decline is due to his age(Image: Getty Images)

Souness then outlined his belief that Salah's age has been a factor in his decline. "When you get to 33, 34, it's like dropping off a cliff or it's a slow decline," said Souness.

"And in Salah's case, the numbers will tell you - he's dropped off a cliff."

He added, "And then to throw that tantrum and blame everyone else but himself, I think it's a bit much.

"He feels that the club are not showing him any respect for what he's done for the club - talk about that when you finish playing. When you're a current player, it's all about what you're going to do tomorrow."

Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool in the summer(Image: Getty Images)

With Liverpool now having been dumped out of the Champions League by PSG, the Reds only goal for the remainder of this season is ensuring qualification for Europe's elite club competition next season.

Liverpool has six games left this season and currently sits fifth in the Premier League table, four points clear of Chelsea, who are in dismal form. They return to action this weekend against Everton in the Merseyside derby, with their final five games after that pitting them against Crystal Palace, Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Brentford.