A Mohamed Salah replacement might me in the works after the Egyptian’s lacklustre start to the season. A main stay in the Liverpool lineup for close to a decade, journalist feels the player is nearing his ‘endgame’ at the club.
Liverpool had a perfect start to the season, winning five in a row, but that golden run into rough weather. Back-to-back losses against Crystal Palace and Chelsea saw them sliding below Arsenal in the league table. From being five points ahead, they are now a point behind their rivals.
Salah was the star performer for the Reds last season. With 48 goal contributions in thirty eight games, he powered the club to a record tying twentieth first division title. However his rich vein of form has seemingly dried up this season.
Quiz: Name the team Liverpool signed these players from in the 2010s
Mohamed Salah replacement on the anvil
Credits: Imago Images
Liverpool went big in the summer transfer market, spending over £416m to replenish their squad. Having bought Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike as replacements for Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez, the club was all set to rule the league again. They also had a marquee signing in Florian Wirtz.
However things aren’t going to plan with the new signings failing to deliver as per expectations. Ekitike being the lone bright spot in an otherwise underwhelming season from the front line.
According to football journalist Graeme Bailey Liverpool are, ‘planning for his succession, whether it’s next year or the year after that’
“They’ve just spent the best part of £300m on Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak. That’s more than a quarter of a billion pounds on three forwards. We’ve started endgame for Salah, this is either the penultimate season or the last one”
Three players lined up as possible successor
The former Sky Sports journalist believes Liverpool have their eyes set on three possible targets with Bayern Munich’s Michael Olise being the prime target. The French international has been delivering for the German giants, with the Bavarians considering a new deal for the player.
“Olise is talking about a new deal at Bayern at the minute, I’m not sure he’s ready to leave in my opinion,” opined Bailey. Apart from Olise, two other players also seem to be on Anfield’s radar with PSG duo, “Desire Doue and Bradley Barcola, who have both also been linked with Liverpool.”
“They know who’s out there and, clearly, if and when Olise is available, it would be a surprise if they weren’t in the mix for him.”, he added.
As for Salah himself, his current contract expires in 2027, by when he will be 35-years old. If Liverpool indeed wants to sell the their talisman, they would like to do so in return for some transfer fee.
