Liverpool have the very difficult task of replacing Mohamed Salah in the summer transfer window, and club legend Steven Gerrard has spoken out about who could be the right man for the job.
Steven Gerrard has pointed to Bayern Munich stars Michael Olise and Luis Diaz as ideal replacements for Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian is leaving Liverpool after nine years.
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Salah has scored 255 goals for Liverpool and will go down in history as one of the club’s best players ever. His departure will leave a significant hole in Arne Slot’s squad, although his form has dropped this season.
Liverpool spent £320 million on attacking reinforcements last summer, in the form of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike and Alexander Isak, but still have to shell out money for another new attacking player.
Diaz just left Anfield for Bayern last summer in a deal worth £65 million, while Olise joined the German giants the year before from Crystal Palace. Gerrard is very impressed with both players and sang their praises while covering Bayern’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid – a game in which Diaz scored – on Tuesday night.
“He’s going to take the world by storm in this summer’s World Cup, he looks like a happy boy who has found peace. I don’t think he’s going anywhere. But yes, I would love to have him at Liverpool, and you know what? I wouldn’t mind getting Diaz back either,” Gerrard said.
Gerrard also discussed the subject on talkSPORT.
“I think the concern, if you try to replace Salah, measured against like-for-like, is that there are very few out there that you can bring in,” he said.
Luis Diaz has 23 goals and 18 assists in 40 appearances for Bayern Munich this season.
“Olise would be one, I would say, but I don’t think he will be available. But from experience, both as a player at Liverpool and after I left, I know that Liverpool’s recruitment team will have different options – and that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re looking for an outright replacement.
“When we had to replace [Sadio] Mané, for example, we brought in Diaz, who is a little different. Or when [Luis] Suárez left us, they had different types of options to try to replace the players.
“But Liverpool have a fantastic track record of replacing top players who have gone before, so I strongly believe that from a recruitment perspective they will have different types of options – not necessarily a direct replacement.
“One thing is for sure: they have to try and replace some of his goal involvement, both goals and assists, which is extremely difficult because he has been incredible for Liverpool for many years.
Slot made a very similar point when he discussed the issue last week.
“Yes, we do,” he said on Friday when asked if Liverpool have a plan to replace Salah.
“We are not starting to work on it now, because we are constantly working on where we can improve. There is not much talk about this, but it was 88 minutes that Alexander Isak, Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz were together on the pitch.
“So let’s first find out and work on how it works together, because it can give us so much more. There is never one player who can replace Mo. Otherwise, there would be 15 or 20 Mos, and he’s completely unique, which is why he’s so special. You can’t find a Mo replacement.
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Luis Diaz left Liverpool and landed at Bayern Munich a year ago.
