Lausanne-Sport Khelifi made his professional debut on 6 August 2012 for
Lausanne-Sport against
Servette in a
Swiss Super League match. He scored his first league goal for the club on 17 November 2012 in a 3–0 home win against
Thun.
Eintracht Braunschweig In January 2014 Khelifi joined Eintracht Braunschweig, who played in the
Bundesliga at the time. He made his debut in the Bundesliga on 3 May 2014, replacing
Karim Bellarabi in the 88th minute of Braunschweig's home game against
FC Augsburg.
FC Zürich On 21 June 2018, Khelifi signed a three-year contract with Swiss side
FC Zürich. On 23 August 2019, Khelifi joined
Holstein Kiel on a season-long loan deal with an option to make the deal permanent. On 21 May 2022,
Zürich announced that Khelifi's contract will not be extended.
Perth Glory In September 2022, Khelifi joined Australian
A-League Men club
Perth Glory on a one-year contract. In December 2022, his contract was extended for another two seasons. In January 2024, Khelifi was loaned to
Melbourne Victory for the remainder of the
2023-24 A-League. Perth Glory confirmed that it was not their decision to accept the loan offer, but they were instructed to do so by the
Australian Professional Leagues (APL). Perth Glory was in administration at the time as attempts were made to find a buyer for the club, and they were also blocked from signing any new players or extending any loans.{{Cite web|url=https://thewest.com.au/sport/perth-glory/a-league-men-perth-glory-say-australian-professional-leagues-behind-decision-for-them-to-loan-salim-khelifi-c-13284136|title=A-League Men: Perth Glory say Australian Professional Leagues behind decision for them to loan Salim Khelifi ==International career==