Mohamed Salah left Anfield applauding all four sides after appearing to pick up a hamstring problem during Liverpool’s meeting with Crystal Palace. He pulled up shortly before the hour mark and was forced off, trudging from the pitch to a chorus of concern from the crowd.

Immediate fears surrounded the severity of the issue and whether the injury could end Salah’s season, and even his Liverpool career. With roughly one month remaining of the campaign, the forward faces a clear race against time if he is to appear again in a Liverpool shirt.

Liverpool have just four fixtures remaining this season. A trip to Manchester United next Sunday already feels too soon for Salah if he has injured his hamstring, while the extent of the blow will determine whether a return is possible before the end of the campaign.

Chelsea travel to Anfield on May 9 in a tense fixture in the race for Europe, and that will be the penultimate chance for Salah to play in front of a home crowd in a Liverpool shirt. Arne Slot’s side end the season at home to Brentford and Liverpool will undoubtedly use that fixture to pay tribute to Salah. Long-standing left back Andy Robertson can also expect a hero’s farewell, but fans will hope to see the Egypt international on the pitch one final time.

Complicating the club situation is this summer’s World Cup. Salah will be keen to hurry back to action and bid farewell to his club, but he will not want to risk exacerbating a problem that could affect his involvement this summer in what is likely to be his final World Cup appearance.

The coming days and medical assessments will be decisive. Liverpool’s remaining schedule and the timing of recovery will decide whether supporters will witness Salah one more time at Anfield before the season closes.

Arne Slot has refused to dismiss the possibility of goalkeeper Alisson leaving Liverpool this summer as speculation links the Brazil international with Juventus.

“Well, that is your opinion and I will bring that opinion to the ownership and to Richard Hughes,” Slot responded. He expanded on how decisions are made at the club: “I think the club is run in a certain way and we make decisions that the club thinks are in the best interests of the club. And it could mean this is the reason why. It could mean another good argument why we acted how we acted.

“I think the history of all the transfers shows that nothing was done without a purpose or without thinking about it. Look, the people who make these decisions take everything into account. They try to make the best decisions with the interest of the club.

“[Experience] is definitely one argument to keep him but there are other arguments. That is a decision the club has to make that is needed. In the end, he still has one year [on his contract].”

Liverpool have been preparing for a potential departure for some time. The club completed the signing of Giorgi Mamardashvili from Valencia in the summer of 2024, with the 25-year-old brought in as the long-term option at Anfield. While there were no plans to immediately displace Alisson, the arrival made clear the club had one eye on the future.

At 33, Alisson remains among the world’s best when fit, but his availability has become a concern. Over the past three seasons he has missed 63 matches across all competitions, with hamstring injuries cited as the primary issue. That pattern of absences has left Liverpool weighing the risk of relying on him through a full campaign.

The broader question for the club is timing. Losing Alisson while Mohamed Salah and Andy Robertson also depart would leave the squad light on senior figures. Virgil van Dijk is expected to remain and provide experience in defence, and Joe Gomez, who joined in 2015, is currently the club’s longest-serving player, but there are no guarantees he will stay this summer either.

Liverpool’s recruitment and contract choices will determine whether the club accepts short-term risk in favour of retaining experience or pursues a clearer transition.

Xabi Alonso has emerged as a potential target for RB Leipzig as uncertainty surrounds Ole Werner and speculation continues over Arne Slot’s future at Liverpool. Reports in Germany suggest Leipzig could look to Alonso if they move to appoint a successor to Werner.

Alonso’s availability follows a short spell at Real Madrid, where he was dismissed less than eight months into a three-year contract. The prevailing assessment has been that his brief tenure at the Spanish club represented an unfortunate mismatch rather than a lasting stain on his managerial reputation. That perception, combined with the ongoing debate over Slot’s position, has increased interest in Alonso’s services.

Sport Bild says Werner’s future depends in part on Champions League qualification. Leipzig sit third, five points clear of fifth-place Hoffenheim with only four matches to go. An evaluation of the wider progress of the team could also determine whether the 37-year-old is retained for a second season.

Should Leipzig seek a new head coach, Alonso is reported to be among a shortlist that includes outgoing Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner and Al Ahli’s Matthias Jaissle, formerly of Red Bull Salzburg. A common factor for the three candidates is Champions League experience. The Red Bull soccer operation’s ambition is underlined by the presence of Jürgen Klopp at its helm, a factor that adds appeal to the post for prospective candidates.

For Alonso, a move to Leipzig would more closely resemble his arrival at Bayer Leverkusen, where he reshaped the team into briefly the best in Germany, than his spell at Real Madrid, which quickly faltered. Leverkusen had never been German champions before Alonso led them to an undefeated Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double, the side only beaten in the Europa League final and denied a treble.

Any approach from Leipzig would become a Liverpool concern only if the club finds itself seeking a new manager. Supporters frustrated by Slot and still besotted by Alonso from his playing days might argue the chance to hire Alonso now, having missed out two years ago, is too good to ignore. That scenario would require dispensing with Slot a year early; the contract he signed to succeed Klopp in May 2024 runs until the end of next season.