Forget Semenyo and Ndiaye: Liverpool should target Ligue 1 flyer who wants to 'show himself to the world'
Liverpool are looking for a replacement for Mohamed Salah but is the obvious target being missed?
Arne Slot couldn’t have envisaged the 2025/26 season going much worse despite Liverpool still being mathematically in the title race and the Champions League.
The tragic loss of Diogo Jota put life, and football, into perspective with Andy Robertson's touching tribute after Scotland qualified for the World Cup being a timely reminder that footballers are only human.
That Mohamed Salah has struggled this season shouldn’t be the surprise that it is give how close he was to the Reds’ no.20 and how spiritual he is as an individual. At 33-years old though, there is an easier excuse for pundits to demand that the Egyptian is dropped.
Liverpool eye Mo Salah replacement as Saudi interest returns
Salah signed a new contract, however, there was always a feeling that this was to allow Liverpool to cash in in a way that Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t. Interest from Saudi Arabia has been intense since the first days of the Pro League spending big money on bigger names with Cristiano Ronaldo showing how a career can be prolonged and statistics can be padded in a league that is big on reputation, but not quite on quality, yet.
According to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, Salah “remains firmly on the radar of Saudi Pro League clubs” despite struggling to find his best form for Liverpool. Salah rejected a £500million move to the Middle East to sign a two-year extension at Anfield that will make him a wealthier man, even if it might not quite be on the same level as Saudi riches.
The report in talkSPORT also claimed that the same sources have told them that Saudi deal-makers “remain committed” to persuading the Liverpool legend to wave farewell to the Premier League and head east.
Last season, Salah was irreplaceable, but times change and every footballer has their price and Richard Hughes would probably be able to write the cheque himself should he phone his counter-part in Saudi Arabia and tell them that Salah is up for sale.
A fee of over £100m is still more than reasonable, which would fill a sizeable PSR gap and help to fund the next transfer window as well as find the winger’s replacement.
Who Liverpool should target instead of Ndiaye or Semenyo
Liverpool no longer need a like-for-like replacement for Salah as such. With Gakpo capable of playing on the right, and Slot able to change formation to accommodate Wirtz and his two strikers, depth and variety is more desirable.
Antoine Semenyo is one name, as is Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye who are both in the £65-70m price range. Should Salah be sold for £100m, there would be money left over for another target who would jump at the chance of moving to Anfield. Lyon’s Malick Fofana is attracting interest from Bayern Munich amongst other elite level European clubs despite currently being out injured until January with an ankle injury.
He was linked to both Liverpool and Everton over the summer too.
His agent, Federico Pena, feels that the young winger belongs at one of Europe’s top clubs. Given the French outfit’s financial difficulties, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Fofana on the move in one of the next two transfer windows for a fee that could be as little as half of that being demanded for Ndiaye and Semenyo. Rayan Cherkhi’s transfer to Man City in the summer being proof of Lyon’s need to balance the books rather than hold onto their top talent.
“This is the season Fofana wants to show himself to the world, especially at the World Cup,” said Pena via De Morgen. “If he succeeds, he can go from Lyon to a top 10 club. We strongly believe in him. Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Man City - those are the clubs where he belongs.”
Fofana is on an upward trajectory and being able to provide cover on either wing makes him an attractive proposition.