Mohamed Salah's Liverpool story comes to an end this Sunday after nine successful years in what is sure to be an emotional afternoon at Anfield.
Granted, the final chapter has not gone as planned, with relations between Salah and manager Arne Slot having long since broken down.
And there will be no trophy number 10 in Liverpool red to mark Salah's impending exit. No final crown for the “Egyptian King”.
But, putting aside the frustration and acrimony of a campaign gone wrong, there can be no doubt that Salah's spell on Merseyside has been a glorious one.
The statistics are remarkable, the success and silverware relentless. In 438 appearances, Salah has scored 257 goals, with only Roger Hunt (285) and Ian Rush (346) having netted more for the club.
The 33-year-old's 193 Premier League goals make him the top foreign goalscorer in league history, leaving him fourth on the all-time list behind Wayne Rooney (208), Harry Kane (213) and Alan Shearer (260).
There has been a clean sweep of major trophies lifted – Fifa Club World Cup, Uefa Champions League, Uefa Super Cup, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup. You name it, Salah and Liverpool won it.
Individually, he secured the Golden Boot four times, the PFA Player of the Year and FWA Player of the Year three times each, and the Liverpool Players' Player of the Year five times.
But, as well as the awards and cups, there were the unforgettable pieces of brilliance on the biggest of occasions domestically and in Europe. So many moments of breathtaking quality to pick out.
How about the Champions League semi-final leg demolition of his former club AS Roma in his debut season, when Anfield witnessed a Salah masterclass consisting of two goals – one of which manager Jurgen Klopp hailed as “genius” – and two assists.
Or perhaps the moment of Zen when, after seeing his 2018 Champions League final against Real Madrid ended in brutal fashion by the challenge of Sergio Ramos, Salah calmly stepped up to score from the spot after only three minutes in the 2019 showpiece against Tottenham Hotspur to put Liverpool on their way to a sixth European crown.
Or his virtuoso second-half performance against perennial title rivals Manchester City in 2021, which saw a perfect run and pass to set up attacking partner Sadio Mane's goal, followed by a stunning finish after Salah slalomed his way through the away defence before firing an unstoppable finish past Ederson.
“Only the best players in the world score goals like this,” said Klopp after that match. “If Leo Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo score that goal then the world says yes because it's world-class.”
Or maybe a few weeks after that when Salah notched a stunning hat-trick at Old Trafford as bitter rivals Manchester United were humiliated 5-0 on home turf.
Any suggestion that his powers might be on the wane were blown away by a sensational 2024/25 campaign when his 29 goals and 18 assists propelled Liverpool – now managed by Slot following Klopp's exit – to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title.
A new two-year contract was also in the bag, silencing what had been relentless chatter about a potential move to Saudi Arabia and setting up what would surely be the happiest of endings for all concerned.
Alas, the story has soured and there will be some dark clouds in the sky when Salah walks off into the sunset after Sunday's game with Brentford.
The title defence has been disastrous with Liverpool currently down in fifth place, 23 points behind newly crowned champions Arsenal, 25 shy of last season's tally with a game to go.
Salah's numbers have also plummeted with just seven goals and six assists from 26 league appearances, by far and away his worst return since joining the club in 2017.
His season imploded at Elland Road in December when Salah informed a stunned set of reporters that Liverpool and Slot had “thrown him under the bus” after being left on the bench for three successive games.
A further salvo followed last week's 4-2 loss at Aston Villa when Salah informed his 62 million Instagram followers that Liverpool needed a return to being “the heavy metal attacking team that opponents fear and back to being a team that wins trophies”.
It was a stinging rebuke of his already under-pressure manager, who – if he was currently in a position of strength – would be within his rights to drop Salah from the squad and deny him his Anfield send-off.
As it is, a move like that would leave Slot's relationship with an already sceptical fan base hanging by the slimmest of threads.
So what next for Salah? His frustrations this season have come about simply from his unerring belief that he remains one of the best players in the world and deserves to be starring on the biggest stages.
Slot's decision to pick a clearly unfit Alexander Isak ahead of Salah in his starting XI for the Champions League semi-final clash with Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield was likely seen as a personal affront and preceded his latest criticism of Slot's tactics.
Joining fellow superstars Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in the Saudi Pro League would be the obvious choice – but the Portuguese was 37 when he joined Al Nassr, Benzema 35 when he signed for Al Ittihad.
Salah is just 33 and surely has a couple more seasons left to ply his trade at the highest level of world football, which remains in Europe.
And what better way to show the error of Slot's ways than by moving to Spain or Italy, winning more trophies and adding to his 52 Champions League goals?
Before making that call, though, Salah can at least enjoy a final bow as his time as the “Egyptian King” of Anfield comes to an end – and what a reign it has been.
