It was not a huge surprise but still a story which sent shockwaves through football as Mohamed Salah announced he was to leave Liverpool this week. So, where next for the legendary player and the club?
Daily Mail Sport’s Liverpool expert, Lewis Steele, is on hand to answer 10 of your best questions posed to him on social media ahead of an uncertain time for the club…
Who will Liverpool go for as Salah’s replacement? Olise? Diomande?
Michael Olise is a supremely gifted footballer, as proved in Bayern Munich’s recent Champions League hammering of Atalanta, where he sparkled in the first leg in particular. But he is also an extremely expensive footballer.
Munich have him on a contract until 2029 so hold all the cards – even if Olise wanted a return to the Premier League.
Yan Diomande at RB Leipzig is a player Liverpool have watched and he seems a natural target. Is he good enough to fill Salah’s shoes? Maybe not, but then again not many prospective names would be.
Juventus’s Portuguese winger Francisco Conceicao is also being monitored, it is understood.
A lot of the summer business may depend on the remainder of this season. If Liverpool miss out on Champions League football, for example, their bargaining position with targets will be weakened and the finances would also be restricted.
Michael Olise (left) is a wonderful talent but is contracted with Bayern Munich until 2029
Yan Diomande of RB Leipzig may be a more realistic target for Liverpool in the summer
Which team is Salah going to next?
Salah’s agent, Ramy Abbas, was keen to stress that no agreements have been struck with any club yet – but the Colombian lawyer has surely held talks with some sides.
Saudi Arabia has naturally emerged as the most probable destination for Salah, with Al Ittihad looking likely to be the front-runners.
Al Hilal are also in the mix with others like Al Qadsiah and Neom. MLS clubs have posted an interest in the past, too, while European giants are now on red alert given Salah is leaving on a free transfer.
The wise money would be on Salah going to Saudi. It felt like it was possible at one stage late in the 2023 summer window but Liverpool – rightly so – put the £150million bid from Al Ittihad straight into the bin.
Ongoing conflict in the Middle East would put off some players from joining Saudi Arabian outfits this summer and that must be taken into account. But as reported by Daily Mail Sport last week, the Gulf nation fancied its chances of tempting the most marketable Arab in the world of sport to join them.
He would be on mega-money, too, and potentially be rewarded with a tax-free contract. Al Ittihad is perhaps the most likely landing spot at this stage but it is still early days.
Mohamed Salah announced this week that he is to leave Liverpool at the end of the season
Is Slot likely to leave either now or in the summer?
If Liverpool do not qualify for next season’s Champions League, especially noting the big spend last summer, of course Arne Slot’s position would be under grave threat.
I can’t see a world in which Slot leaves before the end of the season as the team could still win the Champions League and/or FA Cup and finish in the top five. If they were thinking of making a mid-season change, it would have happened by now.
Liverpool are currently shortening long lists of summer transfer targets and sounding out their representatives and are doing this in consultation with Slot. But a lot can change in a short space of time in this game…
Any truth in Alonso links?
Xabi Alonso is a name that stalks any conversation about Liverpool’s short-term future.
There is a feeling within the industry that Alonso is attainable this summer but the sands might shift if clubs do not act now. Manchester City also need a new manager in the near future, whether Pep Guardiola sees out his final contracted year or not.
But it is not true that Alonso has agreed to join Liverpool. The club are backing Slot – for now at least – though many Premier League sides will know it might be this summer or never with the Basque coach, who will surely be snapped up over the coming months.
One of Slot’s biggest problems this season – and there have been many – is that Alonso became available. At the start of the bad run, there were few managers out there good enough to replace him.
Now there is a former fan favourite out of work waiting to get back into the swing of things. If – and only if – Slot were to leave, Alonso would naturally be one of the favourites to take over.
If Arne Slot leaves Liverpool in the summer, former player and fan favourite Xabi Alonso would be a natural fit
Give me one good reason why Liverpool shouldn’t sack Slot?
If you had said Jurgen Klopp’s successor would win the Premier League and have one average season of just scraping into the Champions League spots, many would have taken it.
Don’t worry, I am not blind to what has happened. This season has not been good enough. It has been a total failure up until this point and Slot does not seem to have the answers to fix the team’s problems right now.
But given he is a league champion, the debate is complex.
What positions are a priority and will we sign two wingers minimum?
Wide forward has to be the main priority – and I would have said that even if Salah had not announced his impending exit.
The question is whether Liverpool need one or two wingers. Of the four wingers in the squad this season, Salah has been poor, Cody Gakpo’s level has dipped, Rio Ngumoha is only 17 and Federico Chiesa does not seem to be trusted by Slot.
Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike can play out there (the latter may be seen more when Alexander Isak is fit) but I still think two wingers should be on the list. However, this will certainly not be cheap, especially now selling clubs know Liverpool need a forward.
Federico Chiesa does not seem to be trusted by Arne Slot and is likely to move on in the summer
Elsewhere, I would sign a midfielder. Curtis Jones has barely featured this side of January, especially from the start of games, so he may seek to leave. The club will trust Alexis Mac Allister to rediscover his best level but, still, a refresh or rotation option in that area would go down well.
Then there is the situation at centre back with Ibrahima Konate, and whether a replacement will be needed in that position if the Frenchman leaves (though do not forget Jeremy Jacquet is set to arrive from Rennes and Giovanni Leoni will be back from his long-term injury).
Which brings us swiftly on to…
Ibrahima Konate update?
Same as always, I’m sorry to say. Liverpool want to renew Konate’s deal, which expires in a few months, but have so far failed to strike an agreement.
Real Madrid have been lurking in the background for a long period and their level of interest changes depending on who you talk to. Some say they do not want him, others in Madrid seem to think they fancy their chances of signing a pre-contract agreement.
It is similar at Liverpool but the truth is we just do not know right now. What we do know is that the club are keen to extend his contract – so the ball is in Konate’s court.
The ball is in Ibrahima Konate’s court regarding his future with Liverpool
What’s happening with Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards?
Salah, clearly, is not the only figure Saudi Arabian clubs want – they are keen on the Liverpool executive duo, too.
The word I have been getting is to expect a turbulent summer on and off the pitch, as reported in Liverpool Confidential last week.
But at this stage we have had no clear indication over what Hughes and Edwards, who have 12 months remaining on their deals at the end of this season, would choose to do if the Saudis stepped up their pursuit.
Is Salah leaving related to his Slot feud? Or is it just the right time?
The fall-out with Slot in early December is certainly a reason for Salah’s decision to leave – but not the only one.
It sounds as though Salah instigated the process to negotiate an early exit – writing off the final year of his contract – around that time and I have always maintained the severity of that situation could not be brushed under the carpet after just a handshake.
There are footballing reasons, too, though. I would not be surprised if there was an unwritten, gentleman’s agreement for Salah to leave at the end of this season. Given the Saudis came knocking for him in 2023, the Egyptian probably thinks this is the right time to leave, especially noting that this season has been poor by his standards.
Prepare to see more from Rio Ngumoha next season when he can step out of Salah’s shadow
Will Chiesa leave and will Ngumoha play more post-Salah?
Based purely on how Slot has used him, I would expect Chiesa to leave this summer.
Four Italian clubs were named this week when I asked sources in Italy about the forward, who withdrew from Gennaro Gattuso’s national squad due to fitness worries. He has had a few highs on Merseyside but his time here has been plagued by injury and not gone how he – or anyone – would have hoped or planned when he signed from Juventus late in summer 2024.
As for Ngumoha, the teenager will naturally play more and more next season. He has already stepped up his minutes in the last six weeks and I would expect this to keep on the same trajectory as he continues to earn the manager’s trust.
