Liverpool eyeing £50m Salah heir who’s the “perfect” signing

When Liverpool appointed Arne Slot last year, there was a pointed emphasis on the Dutchman being a head coach, rather than a manager.

This might feel like a technicality, but it’s a marker of FSG shifting away from the way of things under Jurgen Klopp, stepping into a new-look, modern-feel hierarchy. Michael Edwards returned in a fresh role, rebranding Liverpool’s senior structure.

Slot’s job might have a principal focus on the team, tactics, and football, but he’s not walled off from more hierarchal decisions. He liaises frequently with sporting director Richard Hughes and will have a significant say in transfer- and contract-related activity.

His coy responses relating to Liverpool’s protracted contract problems, for example, carry an undercurrent of a deeper understanding. Slot will be championing the renewal of Trent Alexander-Arnold, or Virgil van Dijk, of Mohamed Salah.

But he will also be involved in working toward a success plan. Liverpool must outline contingencies, after all.

Liverpool’s three-fold contract problem

The elite trinity of stars may all be plying their art elsewhere come Autumn, and though top sources such as The Athletic’s David Ornstein have previously placated worried supporters by stressing that offers have been tabled and positive talks were ongoing for, at least, Salah and Van Dijk, we’re now reaching February with no resolution.

Trent presents a different problem. The 26-year-old is entering his prime and is one of the world’s best playmakers, but he’s being courted by Real Madrid, who are confident that they will claim him on a free transfer at the end of the season.

The knock-on effect of all this is that Liverpool are unable to focus on the transfer offensive, because how can prudent FSG make big-money moves while uncertain of the outcome of such significant players?

Nonetheless, Hughes and co have mapped out plans, and given that Salah, 32, is attracting interest once again from the Saudi Pro League, right-sided replacements have been earmarked.

Liverpool tend to pluck rising qualities and shape them into first-class talent, rather than forking out on the established elite.

Following that trend, Liverpool have got a rather exciting Premier League-based name on their radar.

Liverpool lining up Salah heir

As per Caught Offside, Liverpool are interested in signing Antoine Semenyo and have even proposed a player-plus-cash deal involving Ben Doak.

The Bournemouth winger, 25, has been one of the standout stars in the Premier League this term and is also on Arsenal’s radar, who desperately need to replace the injured Bukayo Saka.

While Semenyo is valued at £50m, CaughtOffside sources have confirmed that he is open to leaving the Vitality Stadium and proving himself on the European stage.

However, wresting him from Cherries control at the season’s midpoint will be difficult, for Bournemouth are seventh in the standings, only three points away from Chelsea in the top four.

What Antoine Semenyo would bring to Liverpool

Semenyo plays off the right flank and has gone from strength to strength since joining Bournemouth in January 2023, leaving Bristol City in a deal worth £10m.

His teammate, Lewis Cook, remarked at the start of the season that the Ghana forward could reach “another level” after coming on leaps and bounds under Andoni Iraola last term, and you’d have to agree that he’s now operating at a remarkable level.

With Bournemouth pressing against the continental zone, Semenyo has arguably been the chief attacking talisman, stepping up after Dominic Solanke was sold to Tottenham for £65m during the summer.

Semenyo did play in England’s top flight across the latter half of the 2022/23 campaign, but Gary O’Neil failed to activate his finest quality and he only started two matches.

As you can see above, he’s made headway under an attack-minded and intelligent manager in Iraola, not only raising his output but also showcasing an impressive array of underlying qualities that will have won him plaudits within Liverpool’s data-analytical room.

With such an exciting skill set and growing potency in front of goal, Liverpool truly might have the perfect Salah heir within reach. The Egyptian king if, of course, irreplaceable but this Ghana international could be a shrewd new option at right wing to ensure that Slot’s frontline continues to fire across all cylinders over the coming years.

Given that Salah has clinched 22 goals and 17 assists across all competitions for the Reds this season, it’s imperative that Liverpool bag themselves a worthy replacement in the summer, should he indeed leave.

Even if Liverpool manage to tie Salah down to a new deal, Father Time is creeping up on him and he will enter the twilight phase at some point in the not-too-distant future, even though the 32-year-old rightly regards himself as a superlative athlete.

Salah ranks among the top 1% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals and assists per 90, as per FBref, supreme in providing an outlet for Liverpool’s slick football.

With Darwin Nunez unreliable and Diogo Jota routinely unfit, it seems obvious that efforts will be placed toward signing a new centre-forward this summer.

Semenyo has been described as the “perfect January signing” by analyst Ben Mattinson when discussing Arsenal’s interest in the wideman, and while the Cherries seem to have closed the door on a winter departure, there’s no reason why Liverpool wouldn’t hit the jackpot should they bide their time and pounce during the summer months.

Salah, truly, is irreplaceable, but in Semenyo, Liverpool would secure a worthy successor all the same, one who could provide his own take on the right-flanking role, and make it his own.

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