Salah stays – but for how long? Ex-Liverpool midfielder answers

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·15 novembre 2025

Salah stays – but for how long? Ex-Liverpool midfielder answers

Former Reds midfielder says AFCON will be the "right moment" to test life without the Egyptian king

Salah stays – but for how long? Ex-Liverpool midfielder answers

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Former Liverpool midfielder Don Hutchison has urged manager Arne Slot to keep Mohamed Salah in the starting XI after the international break but believes the club will inevitably need to prepare for spell without him later this season.

Speaking to TEAMtalk, Hutchison stressed that Salah must remain guaranteed starter for now despite the club’s massive spending on attacking reinforcements this summer.

Liverpool spent heavily to rebuild their forward line:

Alexander Isak – €145m from Newcastle (club record deal)
Florian Wirtz – €125m from Bayer Leverkusen
Hugo Ekitike – €95m

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Hutchison believes that players of such calibre must all be regular starters alongside Salah not instead of him.

"If you want to take positive spin, every Premier League club would love to have Wirtz, Isak & Salah" Hutchison said.

"Slot’s job now is to find way to play those three together and with Ekitike. You can’t spend that much money on world class talent and then ask them to fight for place"

Hutchison added that Liverpool need time to let the new front line play together, build chemistry and lift the club’s league position.

With Salah set to join Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations (Morocco 2025) next month, Hutchison believes that will be the natural window for Slot to test system without the 32 year old star.

"The worrying debate is about why and how you would leave Salah out" he said. "AFCON might be the right time to try it".