Replacing Mohamed Salah could be Liverpool’s defining challenge of post-Jurgen Klopp transition

As the Reds' squad continues to evolve, finding a replacement for Liverpool's biggest star will prove to be the most difficult transfer conundrum yet the club faces

Finding a transition from Mohamed Salah will be Liverpool's biggest challenge in the post-Jurgen Klopp era

The news, when it finally emerged, did not come as a surprise. But the timing of Mohamed Salah’s bombshell announcement caught many off guard.

International breaks are often the time for club news to temporarily fade into the background. Yet Salah rarely follows conventional methods.

The update on Tuesday evening that his nine-year association with Liverpool will end this summer made international news. After all, Salah is a global superstar who transcends the sport. He is an icon, perhaps the Arab world's most famous celebrity, and many will feel a sense of mourning as his iconic Anfield career nears its conclusion.

Along the way, he has scaled unfathomable heights. No player in Premier League history has provided more goal contributions for one club, and last season’s tally of 47 was the highest number any player has ever produced in a 38-game campaign. No-one has won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award more than Salah’s three, or collected more Premier League Golden Boot awards. He is rightly considered among the league’s best-ever.

And that’s before considering his contribution to two Premier League titles, a Champions League triumph, and a plethora of other trophy successes. In an era when Liverpool became an elite European force once again, Salah has been the star attraction. It makes moving on from such a unique talent so challenging.

And yet, in truth, the process has already begun. Liverpool signed three elite attackers last summer with the team’s long-term transition in mind, while the concept of playing without Salah’s world-class qualities isn’t exactly unfamiliar to Arne Slot. Sadly, he has been dealing with a spent force all season.

That will jar with many supporters’ sense of loyalty to Salah, but there’s no denying his peerless levels have dropped considerably this season. His lowly output of 10 goals all campaign underlines that. Indeed, the 33-year-old’s diminished output has been among the biggest contributing factors to the team’s slide.

Salah is set to leave Liverpool this summer(Image: Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

Suggestions online that Liverpool is making a mistake have been conspicuous. Indeed, the only question is whether allowing Salah, who is still so sought after by Saudi Pro League chiefs, to leave for free is wise.

It’s likely he would command some kind of fee, and critics may feel that Liverpool, a club conditioned by cost-effectiveness, is letting sentiment cloud its judgment.

In contrast, it could be argued that allowing a player of Salah’s standing to decide his exit on his own terms is a fitting reward for his years of service. There’s also the logic that shifting Salah’s wages alone could free up around £21 million ($28M) that may be reinvested back into the playing squad.

A cynical view could also consider that Liverpool feared an ugly ending, particularly given Salah’s self-serving conduct in the Elland Road mixed zone earlier this season. This week’s update alleviates that concern.

Fans will only have a few more opportunities to pay homage to Salah(Image: Getty Images)

Regardless, it means that Salah’s final games in red, which number between 10 and 15 depending on cup success, will allow for a drawn-out farewell from supporters.

Then, when the melancholy ceases, realism will prevail. Salah will need to be replaced.

No doubt FSG has already identified a list of targets. Among the reported potential recruits are Yan Diomande, Michael Olise and Bradley Barcola - and given Liverpool’s issues in the wide areas this season, it seems likely that two additions will be needed.

Federico Chiesa’s underwhelming time at Anfield is expected to conclude this summer, and Liverpool will hope that Cody Gakpo and Rio Ngumoha can offer more next season.

At least one summer addition, it is presumed, will be left-footed, although the ability of Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz to play on the right flank will certainly help. Whether Kieran Morrison, the teenage winger on the verge of becoming a regular in Slot’s squad, can play a more prominent role next season will also be a contributing factor.

The uncertainty surrounding Richard Hughes is beginning to impact Liverpool's transfer plans(Image: Getty Images)

Yet, the big concern surrounding Liverpool’s recruitment drive is the future of sporting director Richard Hughes, and what impact a potential defection to Saudi Arabia would have on Liverpool’s summer incomings.

If Slot were to also depart - a serious possibility given the team’s form - that would further impact those plans. Meanwhile, recent reports also indicate that Michael Edwards may also leave his role as FSG’s CEO of Football this summer, amid interest from the Saudi Pro League.

Whoever is calling the shots will certainly be aware of how significant the shift from Salah to successor will be.

This summer marks another seismic step in the Reds’ evolution in the post-Jurgen Klopp transition, with Alisson and Andy Robertson’s time at Anfield potentially at an end too.

While others may follow him out of Anfield, replacing Salah - the defining player of this era - will be Liverpool’s most complex transfer conundrum yet.