Liverpool may have found a solution to an ‘impossible’ Mohamed Salah task, while a defender is reportedly keen to make the move amid two confirmed transfers.
Any football club likes to have its business done ahead of time, but things have gone right down to the wire for Liverpool in the last couple of years.
In 2022, the Reds thought they were home and dry after tying up deals for Fábio Carvalho, Darwin Núñez and Calvin Ramsay before the end of June, but they were then rather embarrassingly forced to re-enter the market for a midfielder after a disappointing, injury-hit start to the new season.
That resulted in a Deadline Day loan move for Juventus midfielder Arthur, one that had the air of a panic buy and went down as one of the worst transfers in Premier League history, with the Brazilian playing just 13 minutes of football.
Twelve months on, the club was looking well-placed and in control after recruiting Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai by the start of July, only for things to descend into chaos.
The lucrative but unexpected departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the Saudi Pro League changed the landscape entirely, and while the latter has arguably been replaced by Wataru Endo, you still get the sense Liverpool could be on the hunt for an additional midfield reinforcement right up until the last day.
Liverpool may have discovered a potential successor to Mohamed Salah in PSV’s Johan Bakayoko.
The Reds face a virtually impossible task in finding a replacement for Salah, not just because of his world-class talent, but also because he’s left-footed.
However, Bakayoko’s ‘profile and skill set’ suggest he could a viable candidate, provided he takes the required strides in his development.
