Liverpool could wait until 2027 to sign £85m Mo Salah replacement | OneFootball

Liverpool Transfer Plan Points to Rayan as Long Term Right Wing Answer

Liverpool supporters know the signs by now. A gap opens in the squad, the market starts moving, names begin flying around, and the club hold their nerve while everyone else loses theirs. This summer, that sense of frustration is building around one position in particular, right wing.

With Mohamed Salah gone, there is an obvious vacancy in the forward line. Yet the strongest noise around Liverpool’s attack concerns Bradley Barcola, a player of real quality, but one who is naturally more comfortable from the left. He may still become a major addition under Andoni Iraola, but it would not answer the most obvious question in the squad.

That is why so many fans are looking at the current situation and wondering what exactly the plan is. If Barcola arrives, Liverpool could be left patching together the right side with Rio Ngumoha, Victor Munoz, Federico Chiesa, or perhaps Barcola drifting across himself. There is talent there, no doubt, but there is also a feeling of improvisation, and title contenders do not usually thrive on makeshift solutions in key roles.

Rayan fits Liverpool right wing profile

For all the unease, there may be a clear logic at work. Liverpool might simply believe that the right player is not realistically available this summer, especially in a market where prices are soaring and value is hard to find. If that is the internal view, then one name stands out, Rayan.

The Bournemouth winger ticks the obvious boxes. He is left footed, he operates naturally from the right, and he offers the sort of directness and balance that makes a front three function properly. More importantly, he looks like a specialist rather than a stopgap. Liverpool need someone who can own that flank, not merely fill it.

Photo: IMAGO

The problem is timing. Rayan only joined Bournemouth in January, so prising him away this summer always looked fanciful. Clubs do not buy a young attacking talent and then wave goodbye a few months later unless someone pays a truly absurd premium. Liverpool may like the player, but they are not in the business of acting recklessly for the sake of appearances.

£85m clause may look very different in 2027

That is where next summer enters the thinking. Rayan is reported to have a £85m release clause that becomes active in 2027. On first glance, that number feels heavy. For a player signed less than a year earlier for under half that amount, it is enough to make eyebrows rise.

Then again, the market has long since stopped caring about yesterday’s price. If Rayan has a strong season at Bournemouth, £85m may quickly start to look less like excess and more like the going rate for a top class young wide forward. By then, Liverpool could be looking at a player worth even more in open-market conditions.

That may explain why the club appear willing to wait. There is risk in that, of course. Waiting always carries risk. Liverpool have previous on that front and supporters have the scars to prove it. Yet if the recruitment team believe Rayan is the best fit available, then delaying the move by 12 months is not passivity, it is planning.

Liverpool could already be laying groundwork

There have been rumours before now that Liverpool admired Rayan even prior to his move from Vasco da Gama. If that interest was genuine, the groundwork may already exist. Elite transfers are rarely built in a week. They are shaped over time, through observation, contact and patience.

It is perfectly plausible that the player has already been made aware of Liverpool’s interest in his development, and of the possibility that a serious move could come later. That sort of long game would fit the club’s usual approach. It would also make sense from the player’s point of view. If Liverpool keep the right wing lane relatively clear this season, the pathway to the first XI becomes easier to sell.

There is another angle too. Liverpool and Bournemouth have developed useful lines of communication in recent years, and relationships between clubs matter more than people like to admit. Even if personnel change, those channels often remain valuable.

Patience could shape Liverpool front three

So the picture may be this, Liverpool strengthen now where they can, possibly with Barcola, and trust the existing options to cover the right for one season. Then, when the clause becomes active, they move decisively for Rayan.

It is a strategy that asks supporters for patience, which is never an easy sell. Fans see the hole in the squad and want it fixed immediately. Fair enough. Football is emotional, and Liverpool’s right side currently looks like an argument waiting to happen.

But smart planning often looks underwhelming before it looks clever. If Rayan develops as expected, £85m could become a very fair price for the final piece in a refreshed Liverpool attack. There will be competition, and there will be noise. Claims from Brazil have even linked Hughes’ reported new club, Al Hilal, with interest. That only strengthens the case for Liverpool to stay focused and keep the runway clear.

No one should pretend this approach is risk free. It is not. Yet there is a difference between doing nothing and choosing your moment. Liverpool may simply believe that the best answer on the right is not available today, but could be there tomorrow. If they are correct, and if supporters can hold their nerve, the wait may yet make perfect sense.