With Mohamed Salah confirmed to be staying, Liverpool can finally begin fully focusing on its efforts in the 2023/24 season — at least until January.
Having fended off interest from Saudi Arabia, holding firm despite huge offers from Al Ittihad, the Reds now know the make-up of their squad for the next few months as they look to challenge Manchester City once again in the Premier League, or at least re-establish themselves back in the top four.
But Jürgen Klopp will have been given plenty of food for thought over the past week or so. The interest in Salah from Saudi Arabia is unlikely to be going anywhere, and will no doubt crop up again in January.
In an ideal world, Liverpool will once again be able to keep hold of its Egyptian talisman until the end of the season, but Klopp will have to start planning for life without him soon.
After all, Salah will be entering the final year of his contract next summer, and Liverpool will need to decide whether it cashes in, or attempts to tie him down to another contract. Given the increase in wages that had to be settled on last year, the former would appear to be the more economically sound decision, especially since Salah will be 32 at that time.
But rather than sit and wait for the summer to arrive, Liverpool should be getting its plans in place in January, and ideally bringing in an heir during the January window. Even if Salah stays put then, he will be heading off for AFCON, meaning the Reds will need someone to fill in on the right for a few games, and there would be no better time to bed in his successor.
A few names have already been touted — Jarrod Bowen has been previously linked with a move to Anfield, and just over a week ago, Football Transfers claimed the West Ham star had been placed on a list of potential replacements.
Bowen though will be 27 by then, and while he does seem to be rediscovering the form that saw him come to the attention of many a year or two ago, it does feel as though the time to sign him may have passed.
Therefore, Liverpool will be best served looking at a younger option, and PSV’s Johan Bakayoko could fit the bill perfectly.
According to the Express, the Belgium international is a player the Reds could look to as a potential successor to Salah in January, and being a left-footed right winger with pace to burn, it’s easy to see why. A $42m (£34m/€40m) offer from Brentford was reportedly rejected during the summer, so Liverpool knows what sort of price it may have to pay.
An heir to Salah though isn’t the only priority the Reds will have. Having focused their efforts on a midfield rebuild this summer, bolstering the defense took something of a back seat, but it’s an area that needs attention sooner rather than later.
Another injury to Ibrahima Konaté coupled with Joël Matip being firmly in the final year of his contract shows that, and there are two candidates that stand out at the moment.
Rennes’ $38m (£30m/€35m)-rated 23-year-old Arthur Theate was watched during the summer, according to David Lynch writing for This is Anfield, while Teradeportes claimed there was interest in 21-year-old Piero Hincapié, valued at around $49m (£38m/€45m) by Bayer Leverkusen.
Should the latter be available at that price, it should be something of a no-brainer for Liverpool, and would leave Klopp with all bases covered for the remainder of the season.
