Mohamed Salah Latest: Five potential replacements if Egyptian King leaves Liverpool | OneFootball

English Premier League

Salah could leave Liverpool for free but who should they bring to Anfield to replace him?

With new reports of Mohamed Salah possibly moving to Saudi Arabia league leaders Liverpool could lose their star man for free, so who should they target as a replacement?

Liverpool's contract ticking time bomb about to blow

Another day passes and still no news on Liverpool's impending contract catastrophe with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah's deal all expiring in a matter of months.

Liverpool face Nottingham Forest in a top-of-the-table clash on Tuesday but talk about contracts could still be a huge distraction.

Alexander-Arnold at this juncture seems the most likely to leave, with Real Madrid the 9/4 favourites to sign the Scouse right-back and it's only the lure of the Spanish giants that could tempt him away from Anfield when Arne Slot's side are top of the Premier League and leading the new Champions League format.

Confidence is highest over Van Dijk, who has said very little in the media and as club captain seems just as unflappable when it comes to dealing with contract negotiations as he is dealing with Premier League forwards.

Salah is a different story, as he's become more vocal in the last few months than in his entire time at Liverpool, and with fresh transfer rumours of Salah agreeing a deal to join the Saudi Pro League, he's 3/1 to join Cristiano Ronaldo in the mega-rich Middle Eastern league.

"The only thing he wants is to stay," insisted informed journalists on Sky Sports, but with the money men at FSG notoriously strict with their contracts there's the very real chance that one of the greatest goalscoring phenoms to ever grace the Premier League could walk away from Anfield for free.

So FSG better have a back-up plan, but who could Liverpool sign?

Liverpool transfer options

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

The Napoli attacker has handed in a transfer request and the talented Georgian will be hot property, aged just 23, with bags of pace and talent. PSG are close to a £70m deal but Liverpool have been linked for a while and reports suggest they've been offered around about that much from Saudi Arabia for Darwin Nunez - which they really should take.

Bryan Mbeumo

If we're talking like-for-like, the Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo fits that mold, the left-footed Cameroonian loves to charge down that right wing and has scored 13 goals this season for the Bees. He has nice close control, can run with the ball and looks a good finisher, so you'd think would slot right in - pardon the pun! He's not that prolific but neither was Salah until he moved to Anfield aged 25 - the same age Mbeumo is right now.

Rodrygo

The Brazilian has been largely overshadowed at Real Madrid by compatriot Vinicius Jnr, and then Kylian Mbappe came to town, and Jude Bellingham - maybe even Alexander-Arnold adding more star power soon. That's a lot for an ego to take, and Rodrygo has been linked with a move away for a while. Should Liverpool win the Premier League, or even the Champions League, then it'd be a great time for Rodrygo to join. Wages may be an issue though as he's a bit too well-known to be an FSG signing.

Omar Marmoush

Why not go like-for-like and replace the Egyptian King with the Egyptian Prince? Marmoush has bagged 14 goals in the Bundesliga for Frankfurt, just one off Harry Kane, and leads the league with seven assists. In that way he's similar to Salah in scoring and laying them on. Man City are interested in signing Marmoush for around £50m as he has no buyout clause, and can play anywhere along a front three, which would suit Slot's Liverpool formation. In an ideal world Liverpool fans would say bring Marmoush in and keep Salah, but next best may be to bring Egypt's new star to Anfield.

Jarrod Bowen

Perhaps the least sexiest option on the list but the West Ham man is a consistent performer down the right wing, is a great finisher and has bags of Premier League experience - he may be the safest bet of the lot, which is what FSG will relish. They won't relish West Ham's asking price or the fact he's 28, but he could slot in down that right channel pretty comfortably. He was famously Jurgen Klopp's favourite player outside his own squad, if that counts for anything now.

Nottingham Forest v Liverpool preview

Forest have won each of their last six Premier League games and a win over Liverpool will see them equal their longest ever league winning run. More importantly, taking three points on Tuesday would see Forest leapfrog Arsenal into second place and to within three points of leaders Liverpool (albeit having played a game more). That is not a sentence I imagined typing over halfway through this season.

Of course, Liverpool have plenty of impetus to take three points too, as they can pull nine clear at the top if they win. They edged this fixture 1-0 here last season and, even with Liverpool boasting the division's top scorer in Mo Salah (18) and Cody Gapko - who has been SuperBoosted to have a shot on target in the game - scoring in his last three league matches, another low-scoring contest would be no surprise.

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