As they begin to ponder potential replacements for Mohamed Salah, Liverpool are reportedly weighing up a move to sign a La Liga winger who just stole the show in front of their scouts.
Liverpool transfer news
The contract situations of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah remain the only uncertainties in life under Arne Slot, who has seamlessly replaced Jurgen Klopp.
It looked likely to be mission impossible, but Slot arrived and quickly stamped his mark on the Reds to take them eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table and top of the Champions League, having just defeated European champions Real Madrid.
The former Feyenoord boss will want to take full advantage of the current Liverpool squad whilst he still has it at his full disposal. As things stand, he’s set to lose Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold when the summer arrives and their contracts expire. It would be the ultimate disaster for those at Anfield, who are already preparing for the worst.
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According to Graeme Bailey for The Boot Room, Liverpool are now weighing up a move to sign Takefusa Kubo after sending scouts to watch the winger score and assist in a 2-1 victory for Real Sociedad against Ajax in midweek. Stealing the show, the Japan international picked the perfect time to impress, with scouts also reportedly in attendance from Aston Villa, Arsenal and Newcastle United.
If Salah does depart in the summer, Kubo certainly represents an interesting option – and an in-demand one, at that. But whether he has the output levels to step in for the Egyptian remains to be seen.
“Amazing” Kubo would have impossible task
To put it simply, there’s not many wingers in world football who are capable of replacing Salah at Liverpool. He is an Anfield legend, and replacing him was never going to be an easy task. Just this season, Salah has scored 12 goals and assisted another 10 in 19 games in all competitions to fire Liverpool towards glory. It’s an output that not many, including Kubo, would struggle to replicate at Anfield.
|
League stats 24/25 (via FBref) |
Takefusa Kubo |
Mohamed Salah |
|---|---|---|
|
Goals |
3 |
10 |
|
Assists |
0 |
6 |
|
Expected Goals |
1.8 |
8.4 |
|
Take-ons Completed |
26 |
20 |
The Japan international has at least out-performed his expected goals total, indicative of the quality of his finishing, but three goal involvements isn’t impressive enough to suggest that he should be the one to replace Salah as soon as next year.
Praised by analyst Ben Mattinson for his “amazing vision”, Kubo must also begin to create with such an ability, having struggled to get off the mark on the assists front in the current league campaign.
With plenty of unanswered questions about Salah’s future, Liverpool won’t find the solution to their problem at Real Sociedad in the summer.
