Mohamed Salah is the best Liverpool player I've seen - but I wish it could have been different

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Liverpool supporter Paul Philbin writes after Mohamed Salah announced he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the seasonMohamed Salah leaving Liverpool has left me feeling bittersweet, but for reasons that probably need explaining.I don't want to sound like a 'back in my day' type of fella here, and maybe I am writing more of an open letter to the 10-year-old me. You think he will be there forever.I remember that feeling watching Robbie Fowler scoring goals for Liverpool and also having that feeling when he left.This will be the same for the young kids trying to come to terms with Salah's exit now.But I feel different about it.When Fowler left Liverpool I just didn't understand why.

Without sounding like the cliché, he was a God to Liverpool fans, especially the youngsters like me who looked up to him and who wanted to be him.Right now there will be kids trying to make sense of it all. That was me once.Now I understand why Salah is leaving; he has been a great servant for the club and even though I wish it wasn't the case, it feels as though the time is right.Last night's announcement made me think about Salah's Liverpool career.

I've always thought about just how special it would feel watching this player score all the time, win trophies and become one of the greatest players on the planet, but as the 10-year-old me.Don't get me wrong, I've been lucky enough to witness Salah wear the red shirt hundreds of times, and at an age I've been able to celebrate the success properly instead of with a Fruit Shoot.He's given me and my mates memories and moments to last a lifetime.But I also think back of walking up to Anfield with my brother and dad and seeing stands selling flags with Fowler, Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard's faces on and idolising them.Watching them of a weekend and trying to recreate their moments from the Saturday on the school playground.Fast-forward 15 years and you're watching Mohamed Salah in a different way to how you watched those other players as a kid.It feels the same, and the joy when he scores feels the same, but it is also so different.Liverpool won trophies when I was a kid but it wasn't to the level of what we've seen in recent years.I always wanted those gold badges on my kit as a kid. I don't now as I'm far too old and cynical for that.It does make feel bittersweet, but also that's life, and you grow up.This isn't a recency bias following the news that Mo will be leaving this summer - it's something I've always thought watching him every time he wears the Liverpool shirt - but he is in the conversation to be in the top-five greatest players to play for Liverpool.I won't say he's the greatest ever but for me he's the best I've ever seen play for Liverpool.I've loved every minute of his Liverpool career and it came in a period of loving going to the game every week.But I will always wonder what it would have been like pretending to be Salah, playing on the field with my mates as a kid, or looking at him as if he was an untouchable superhero wearing the red shirt.