Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp are currently planning to get a replacement for Mohamed Salah.
Borussia Dortmund’s ace has been identified as a potential target, though transfer insider Dean Jones believes he is not at Salah’s level.
Liverpool may consider promoting from within and adding another attacker to bolster their options.
Jürgen Klopp’s side have enjoyed a positive start to 2023/24, having only lost once in the Premier League since the new campaign got underway.
Jürgen Klopp oversaw a stellar transfer window in the summer just gone, especially in the centre of the park. Having waved goodbye to the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, the German spent just shy of £150m on new faces to rejuvenate his squad, per Transfermarkt.
And that it has with their new-look midfield viewed as the catalyst for their embryonic period of success, most notably Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, with the latter becoming one of the leading lights in Liverpool’s ever so bright start to the new campaign.
Missing out on Champions League football last term would’ve been gut-wrenching for the Merseysiders after becoming a staple part of football’s most coveted competition in seasons gone by, though Klopp will certainly be viewing 2023/24 as a means of getting back on track.
However, their start to the campaign would’ve certainly been less fruitful if Salah, who has registered an eye-catching six goals and four assists in 10 games thus far, had upped and left when reigning Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad came knocking.
Having already secured the likes of Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante over the summer months, the free-spending side from the Middle East offered £150m for the prolific forward, though Liverpool stood firm in their stance that he is strictly not for sale, per Sky Sports.
With Al-Ittihad not expected to ease the pressure by testing Liverpool and Klopp’s resolve once again when the transfer window reopens, it may be time for them to re-consider their options and plan ahead for a notable replacement.
When asked whether Borussia Dortmund’s Donyell Malen would be the type of player Liverpool are expected to eye as a direct Salah replacement, Jones suggested that the Dutchman, who currently pockets £100,000-per-week in Germany, does fit the right profile that is needed in Merseyside.
However, he did concede that Malen, 24, is not at Salah’s level and that promoting from within the club may be the club’s best option. Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said:
“Donyell Malen has been linked with Liverpool for quite a while, and he’s clearly somebody that fits the profiling of the club and also somebody that I can definitely see that Jürgen Klopp would be liking as a player.
“I’m not sure if I’d be building him up as like a Mohamed Salah replacement right now. I mean, he’s 24 years old, he’s got three goals this season in the Bundesliga.
“He’s very good, but he’s not quite Salah good and I don’t think Liverpool, whenever the time comes, will necessarily be looking to sign anyone as the direct replacement to Salah.
“It might well be, to be honest, that they take a similar stance to what Tottenham have done with Harry Kane and decide to fill the gap internally, but also bring somebody in around that frontline that can bolster things out and give them more attacking options.
“With Malen, I’m sure that it won’t be the last we hear of that interest, but I’m a little sceptical to whether he’s genuinely ready to be seen as a Salah replacement.”
