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Liverpool must prepare for a future without Mohamed Salah and they could have witnessed his transfer as heir after a child prodigy impersonated him over the weekend.
The final days of the transfer window made it clear that Liverpool’s next priority would be to replace Mohamed Salah.
Whether it’s January next year or this summer, sooner or later the club will have to accept Salah leaving Anfield to pursue new paths.
He’s 31 and with the Saudi market vying for his services, it’s only a matter of time before Liverpool get an offer they can’t refuse.
It remains to be seen what this offer will look like. But that will almost certainly be enough for Liverpool to reinvest the money in the team and continue the reconstruction of Jurgen Klopp.
The trick to replacing Salah is that you’re not directly replacing him at all.
There is simply no one like him in world football who can boast the same numbers.
Players who can come close would simply be outside Liverpool’s price range.
Instead, Liverpool should look to replace Salah with the ‘moneyball’ tactic of spreading Salah’s averages using multiple players which together lead to the Egyptian’s return.
In this way, Liverpool will also be able to rebuild the selection. Just like the club did when the Reds sold Philippe Coutinho and signed Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson.
With this in mind, Takefusa Kubo should be one of the first players on Liverpool’s transfer list. The Japanese international has so far been nowhere near posting the numbers Salah can brag about at Liverpool, but he could do a good job on the right wing at the club.
A lefty playing right-footed at Real Sociedad, the way he cuts from right to left is already very similar to Salah’s.
If you look at his goals for Sociedad this weekend – one scored with his left foot on the break and another with his left foot from the right into the top left corner – you’ll see the goals Salah has scored for. Liverpool since he arrived at Anfield.
At the age of 22, Kubo has long been regarded as a child prodigy, following the path of Martin Ødegaard and moving to Real Madrid at an early age.
But he still hasn’t lived up to the hype around him.
Last season was the first real season he came close, scoring 18 goals in all competitions.
He is on course to improve this season, having already scored three goals and recorded one assist in his first four La Liga games.
As we saw with Ødegaard, just because a player didn’t arrive at Real Madrid as a child prodigy doesn’t mean they’ll ever be good enough for the Premier League.
Kubo has followed a similar path to the Norwegian midfielder and could now, just like Odegaard, use Real Sociedad for his next move.
Considering most La Liga clubs’ financial situation doesn’t even compare to the Premier League, Liverpool could sign him for a reasonable fee even if Kubo blows up this season.
This would allow the club to invest in other players as well and effectively replace Salah.
Kubo won’t be an equal replacement for the Egyptian, but he should be able to take on some of the burden of replacing Salah and offer a similar kind of valve for the right wing.
Liverpool never came back for Ødegaard after first seeing Real Madrid bring him in, but another wonderkid who escaped at the Bernabéu could still make Anfield shine.
More news…….
Europa League group stage draw: who can Liverpool face and when?
Liverpool will determine their opponents for their first Europa League season since reaching the 2016 final in Friday’s draw. Here’s who they can face.
The Reds were knocked out of Champions League places last season for the first time in seven years as they are used to dining at the top of European football.
Jurgen Klopp led his side to three Champions League finals between 2018 and 2022, but he is due to play football for the next European Championship on Thursday night.
Despite dropping a notch for the 2023/24 season, there are still a number of top clubs Liverpool could face if they are to progress to the knockout stages of the competition.
The groups will consist of one team from each of the four pots, with Liverpool unable to meet another English side until later rounds.
The Reds are the highest ranked team in the competition and are therefore in the first pot. Here’s a look at who we could face in the Europa League group stage this year.
Europa League group stage winning pots
Here are the 32 teams in the Europa League. Liverpool will be drawn in pots two, three and four. They cannot be drawn with Brighton, meaning there are 23 potential opponents in Friday’s draw.
Pot 1: Liverpool, West Ham, Roma, Villarreal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atalanta, Ajax, Rangers
Pot 2: Sporting CP, Slavia Prague, Rennes, Olympiakos, Real Betis, Marseille, Qarabag
Pot 2 or 3: Molde
Pot 3: Brighton, Sheriff Tiraspol, Union Saint-Gilloise, SC Freiburg, Sparta Prague, Maccabi Haifa, Sturm Graz
Pot 3 or 4: Toulouse
Pot 4: AEK Athens, TSC, Servette, Panathinaikos, Rakow Czestochowa, Limassol
TBC: BK Hacken, LASK
When and where is the draw?
The draw will be taking place in Monaco on Friday, September 1 at 12pm (BST).
It will also be streamed live on UEFA‘s website and on TNT Sports 1.
Group Stage Schedule
Matchday 1: September 21
Matchday 2: October 5
Matchday 3: October 26
Matchday 4: November 9
Matchday 5: November 30
Matchday 6: December 14
The Round of 16 will then begin with a play-off in February, which Liverpool can circumvent by finishing top of their group.
The final will take place in Dublin on May 22, where Liverpool will be hoping to do better than their previous appearance at Basel eight years earlier.
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