Copy linkFacebookXPinterestEmailShare this article 0Join the conversationFollow usAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleNewsletterFour Four TwoGet FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.You are now subscribedYour newsletter sign-up was successfulWant to add more newsletters?Five times a weekFourFourTwo DailyFantastic football content straight to your inbox! From the latest transfer news, quizzes, videos, features and interviews with the biggest names in the game, plus lots more.Signup +Once a week...And its LIVE!Sign up to our FREE live football newsletter, tracking all of the biggest games available to watch on the device of your choice. Never miss a kick-off!Signup +Join the clubGet full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in.Subscribe to our newsletterYou know what they say about all good things and Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertsons imminent departure will bring that home to Liverpool this summer.It has been a slow disassembly, but come the summer, when Robertson and Salah leave, there will only be a handful of holdovers from Jurgen Klopps peak Liverpool side.That has been gradually unfolding since 2021, when Georginio Wijnaldum and Xherdan Shaqiri became the first high-profile ejections from the squad that reached three Champions League finals and pushed Manchester City all the way for years on end before finally ending their long wait for a league title in 2020. You may like Liverpool star's exit now a 'certainty': report Mo Salah Anfield exit kickstarts biggest issue Liverpool have faced for almost a decade Mohamed Salah situation tells you exactly where Liverpool are right now Liverpool given pause for thought as Mo Salah and Andy Robertson set to departGet VIP Liverpool tickets HERE with Seat UniqueSeat Unique tickets at Anfield offer a fantastic matchday. You get premium padded seats in the new Anfield Road stand (Block AM5, front rows) and access to the Brodies Lounge for three hours pre-match. Enjoy street food, a complimentary half-time drink, a matchday programme, and entertainment, including a Liverpool legend appearance, making it a truly elevated experience.View DealBut things have a way of creeping up on you, and this is the summer when the end of that era really will be most keenly felt especially after last seasons title win gave several key members of Klopp-era Liverpool something of a final hurrah.Robertson and Salah leaving Liverpool feels more profound and momentous than Trent Alexander-Arnolds poorly-received exit for Real Madrid. A player looking for a new adventure at his peak is one thing. For Salah and Robertson, though, it simply feels like the natural tailing off for two enormously popular and influential members of a decorated squad. They are simply not the players they once were.That doesnt just prompt a bit of reflection on how much Liverpool have changed, but also forces an assessment of the four remaining players who were present for those golden years under Klopp.Alisson Becker is still Liverpools first-choice goalkeeper, but increasingly injury-prone; more to the point, his long-term successor is already at the club and just waiting to take the gloves off him.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk both only have one year left on their contracts, with one of them, again, still frustratingly injury-prone, and the other facing increasing scrutiny about his ability at the very highest level.Curtis Jones made a handful of appearances in the 2019/20 title win, but was still only a teenager then and is not a particularly regular starter now; nearly half of his appearances in all competitions this season (20 out of 41) have come from the bench, with his numbers somewhat padded by his having started all six of Liverpools games in the domestic cups.Given everything that happened last season, you cant help but wonder if Salah and Robertson wish they had taken the opportunity to go out on a high last year. There were certainly offers on the table for them to do so, and Robertson, in particular, had plenty of indication that his powers were beginning to wane. What to read next Major Liverpool transfer back on after failed January move: report Liverpool report: Mohamed Salah in shock talks with former club Mohamed Salah to leave Liverpool at the end of the season after 11 years at the club That title triumph may have given the pair the same impression as the fans were misled into, though: that Liverpool had future-proofed themselves sufficiently that they might avoid the dreaded and seemingly inevitable transitional period altogether after Klopps big farewell.As it turns out, romping to that title with such ease was not all down to that, but had as much to do with the fact that Manchester City were undergoing a transition of their own, and Arsenal were just not ready to step up and take their place yet.It would do a huge disservice to Liverpool to suggest they won last seasons league title by default when they had such a brilliantly consistent midfield and the divisions top scorer in their side. But its also fine and fair to say they also benefited from that power vacuum at the top of the Premier League.The picture is different now. City are still not fully stable in their next phase of Pep Guardiolas evolution, but demonstrably better than they were last season; while Arsenal, for all their critics, are currently on course for the title by virtue of having the fewest flaws of any side in England - albeit still being far from infallible.Theres a reason that nostalgia is such a comfort to many people: the future is always uncertain.Seeing the final few pieces of Klopps side float away from Anfield stands as a reminder of that at a time when Liverpool fans are increasingly desperate to find some reassurance that this is just a bad season, rather than the beginning of a longer-term decline.They should be better set up than most clubs to make that the case; but its clear now that the good thing they had going on under Klopp has well and truly come to an end.TOPICSAndy RobertsonMohamed SalahJrgen KloppSteven ChickenSocial Links NavigationSteven Chicken has been working as a football writer since 2009, taking in stints with Football365 and the Huddersfield Examiner. Steven still covers Huddersfield Town home and away for his own publication,WeAreTerriers.com. Steven is a two-time nominee for Regional Journalist of the Year at the prestigious British Sports Journalism Awards, making the shortlist in 2020 and 2023.
