By Ethan McGlade
The following is a guest article by the aforementioned author – linked above – and is not necessarily representative of opinions held by anyone at Empire of the Kop…
Mo Salah’s contract situation at Liverpool does not look good, a situation exacerbated by the fact that he has only has one more year remaining on his current terms.
Most of us Kopites are worried about his contractual situation and the recent news that Juventus have reportedly offered Salah a reported blockbuster deal to sign for the Old Lady.
However, a future without the Egyptian King may not be all the doom and gloom that is expected as we look into what the future might hold without the wide man.
Firstly, we must look into our attacking assets already at the club; even without Salah, we have a perfect blend of youth and experience.
For example, we have the exciting, new Luis Diaz, an experienced yet ever-flourishing Sadio Mane, and the – better than Figo – Portuguese international, Diogo Jota.
And in our younger generation coming through we find a Jurgen Klopp favourite in Harvey Elliott, a dazzling diamond in Kaide Gordon, and even the 18-year-old Mateusz Musialowski who has torn it up at youth level.
All this squad depth will surely mean that the No.11’s potential absence will not be sorely missed?Well, even with our already brilliant backup, it would be difficult deny that a Salah-less Liverpool would quite simply not be the same team.
A quick look at the former Roma man’s record-shattering stats would show this.
Just this season, he has 38 goal contributions in 36 games; a sensational goal to game ratio, only bettered by an extremely small grouping of elite footballers (none of which currently ply their trade in the Premier League).
Salah has also played almost every game in the English top-flight and Champions League at the time of writing, so it is not to be ignored that he is integral to Klopp’s system.
READ MORE: Elliott names two Liverpool stars that are a ‘dream for any youngster’ to play with
As far as replacing the winger is concerned, it’s a task the recruitment team would no doubt struggle to perform.
Over his time at Liverpool, the attacker has only scored less than 20 goals in one Premier League season (2019/20), which he made up for by bagging himself 10 assists.
I doubt there is another player in the world who can replicate his form that FSG would be willing to splash the cash for.
On the other hand, we just cannot compete with the mega money that teams like Juventus are offering the 29-year-old.
Maybe it might be worth cashing in on the Egyptian King now, as, unfortunately, is value will only decrease over time in light of the fact that he’s set to 30 in the summer.
It all depends on whether FSG would be willing to take the risk of keeping the player and destroying our sustainable wage structure in the hope that he continues to perform at the highest level.
Otherwise, another option would be to cash in on him now and reinvest the money into other areas of the team – for example, in a Jude Bellingham, with whom we’ve been strongly linked with.
The cards are in the hands of the owners now and we shall soon see which deck will be dealt.
#Ep42 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: Is Jota underappreciated? FA failing fans… and more! 🎙️